What Makes a Hero
by Nanaki
Summary: My knee-jerk reaction to Tactics' epilogue, written when I was 16. Some of the action is still pretty good though. At Agrias' request, Ramza investigates the Queen's death. While Delita does his best to hamper the investigation, Zalbag returns...
1. Prologue and 1: The Meager

(Nanaki says: Welcome everyone, to my knee-jerk reaction to Tactics' Epilogue. I've been doing tenth anniversary editions of several of my other stories recently, and I decided it was time to give this one the same treatment. Plus, this still needed to be converted to the chapter by chapter format from its single big file, so here it is. Anyway, this story went up at Icy's in May of 1998, not long after I finished Tactics. In fact, Icy made a new site covering Tactics in large part so this story would have a place to go. This story was written pretty much just for the sake of giving Delita what I thought he deserved, along with undoing a few character deaths that I thought were too sad. Looking back with a more educated eye, Zalbag is also majorly out of character throughout this entire story, though fortunately in a way that makes him much more awesome than the in-game Zalbag would ever be. All right, enough of my babbling for now. Let's get to the story.)

**What Makes A Hero **

**Prologue**

By Nanaki

Igros University

Professor Alazlam Durai looked up from his studies as he heard footsteps down the hall. He was expecting another angry right wing church goer, ready to yell at him for "destroying" the myth of Delita. Instead, he recognized the dark skin and light hair of one of his best students. "Ah Culum, come inside!" He said genially. "It's so good to see someone who won't try to have me committed."

"You know as well as I do that could never happen now." The young man said as he took off his hat, brushing off the dust. His hair was combed down nicely, except for one rogue lock that had grown increasingly popular since the Durai report had been released last month. Culum Ruglia had been in various classes of Alazlam's as long as he had been at the university, and he had a voracious appetite for the truth. "You've had far too much public exposure for the church to be able to do anything to you."

"That's probably true enough. So, what brings you here? I thought you were excavating the remains of Fort Zeakden."

"Well, no offense to your auspicious ancestor, but I found the Durai Report to be rather inconclusive." Alazlam raised an eyebrow. "Unless, of course, you didn't release the full report." Now the other eyebrow was raised. "Something the general public would have found too unnacceptable?"

Alazlam chuckled softly. "As usual Culum, you've guessed my motives before I could speak of them for myself. Yes, there are more sections to the Durai Report. I was waiting to release them until the truth of the Lion War is generally accepted."

"A wise decision. But what makes it so hard to believe?"

"Have you ever heard of the "Wolf Disturbance?"

"Of course. Not long after Delita was crowned, a faction opposed to him rose up and tried to overthrow him. Not everyone supported him, after all."

"Very good. Now, what if I told you that the disturbance was led by Ramza Beoulve?"

"What?! But, even the most liberal histories say that he and Alma left Ivalice, and were never seen again." Alazlam eyed him sharply. "Ah yes, but they're all church histories. I'd forgotten."

"That's the power of the church. I suppose you're wondering why Ramza came back."

"The thought had crossed my mind. Perhaps to attend Ovelia's funeral?" He said with some bitterness. No one liked the truth about the legendary King Delita.

"In a way. But the girl they buried wasn't Ovelia."

"What?! But history says... Church history again." He corrected himself. "She wasn't dead?"

"She was quite an accomplished cleric, if you recall. They way Delita wounded her, she should have died slowly from shock and blood loss. But she managed to cast MBarrier on herself, apparently."

"And that includes Reraise. Smart, very smart. It wouldn't have taken effect until she actually did die, by which time Delita would have left... So she sought Ramza's help?"

"Lock the door." Alazlam said. As Culum did so, he reached back and pulled on one of the dusty books in his bookcase. It slid back to reveal a safe, which he unlocked. Inside lay the musty manuscript that was the original Durai Report. He opened the book to about 2/3 of the way back, then handed it to Culum. "The information from here forward hasn't been released to the public. You will of course, keep this to yourself?"

"Of course." Culum grinned.

"Well then, discover the truth. I think you'll be even more surprised..."

.

"Won't you join me on a journey for the truth?" - Alazlam Durai

.

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 1**

**The Meager**

Warjilis Trade City

The Warjilis docks were bustling with activity, as always. In the midst of the traders and fish mongers, a group of twelve robed figures stood slightly to the side, apparently waiting for a ship. The occasional pickpocket who drew close was quickly discouraged by the sight of armor and weapons glinting from underneath the robes. One of the figures detached from the group momentarily, looking up at the mountains in the distance. A second soon followed.

"Having second thoughts Orlandu?" Ramza rested his hand on the grizzled warrior's shoulder.

"Yes. I can't help but wonder if I'm too old to be leaving Ivalice. If I'm too set in my ways..."

"True. But the ways are changing even now, whether you want them to or not. And besides, you defeated the Hokuten, by killing Dycedarg, and Zalbag... Those were your goals for many years, weren't they?"

"Yes. But it wasn't the same, with them being possessed by Lucavi..."

"You'll get used to it. No one likes change, except maybe Delita..." Ramza remained silent for a moment. He had been worried about Delita ever since Ovelia had died in an unfortunate riding accident. Losing two women so important to him in one lifetime might make him go even more psycho than he had been lately. Those red chocobos were so temperamental... He had wondered a little about the circumstances, but they had gone to the funeral in disguise, and it seemed that there was no foul play involved.

Ramza turned and walked back toward the rest of the group. Most of them were talking among themselves, although Meliadoul turned to glare at him. 'If looks could kill, that woman would be the death of me.' Ramza thought. Meliadoul still seemed to have a keen dislike for him, although he supposed he wouldn't have too sweet of a disposition if he had been forced to kill his own father. That thought brought him again to Dycedarg. He had actually been glad to see the monster vaporise in Orlandu's Holy Explosion. If it wasn't for Dycedarg, Balbanes might still be around today...

Then his thoughts turned again as Rafa glanced at him for a second. Sometimes he wondered if he was crazy, but he found himself taking a liking to her. Maybe it was just the age he was at, combined with circumstance. With most of the family dead, the Beoulve genes were screaming to be passed on. So then why didn't he look at Agrias or Meliadoul in the same way?

Then, realizing he was practically schizo today, he wondered where Agrias had been lately. He hadn't seen her since just before they left for Murond. She was probably sore that Orlandu seemed to have taken her place on the team, but what could he have done? Only Ramza himself could match Orlandu's sheer attacking power, and he had nowhere near the range. He doubted very much that they would have been able to kill Altima without Orlandu's devastating sword techniques. He was a Thunder God indeed.

Ramza whirled around as someone tapped on his shoulder. It was Roberto, his master ninja, which would explain why he hadn't heard the man coming up. "Ramza, there are two people dressed very similar to us heading this way. Should we confront them?"

"No. No one knows we're here. I can't think of who it might be, though. One of them wasn't made of metal, and about seven feet tall, was it?"

"Definitely not Worker 8." Roberto was a step ahead.

"Spiky hair?"

"I couldn't tell, but I don't think so."

"Is it Agrias?" He asked hopefully.

"Could be, but who would she be bringing with her?"

Mustadio walked up beside them, looking through the cross hairs of one of his guns. "I've got them in my sights, whoever they are."

"Take it easy." Ramza put a hand on his shoulder. "Even if someone does know we're here, why would anyone object to us leaving?" For that was the true purpose of this expedition. Ramza was sick of the endless violence and political backstabbing of Ivalice, and he and Alma were journeying across the ocean to Malak and Rafa's ancestral homeland. Most of the others had wanted to go along, because they had no life left to live here. Ramza was not sorry to be going. Let Delita have his poverty stricken kingdom.

The two robed figures were drawing much closer now. Ramza fingered the Masamune in his belt, but did not draw it. The shorter of the two stumbled briefly, and the taller supported it, no, her. They were both female, and as they drew very close, Ramza could make out Agrias' distinctive features. The second figure remained obscured by the draping hood. "Agrias." Ramza whispered loudly. "Where have you been all this time?"

"I would explain, but I think that I won't need to." She smiled thinly. "I have someone with me who needs your help." She gestured to the weakened figure beside her.

"Who?..." Ramza drifted. "Look, I'd love to help, but we're leaving in, like fifteen minutes here." He said regretfully, though still curious as to the exact situation.

"Looks like he needs a visual aid." Agrias said to the figure. The shorter woman lifted her hands shakily to the hood, and pushed it back from her head.

"Ovelia?!" Ramza asked in an almost normal tone of voice.

"Ssshhh!!" Agrias shushed him angrily.

"Surprised to see me?" Ovelia smiled a little, but she looked very pale.

"How is this possible?" He asked, dumbfounded. "I was at your funeral..."

"Whoever you saw, it wasn't me. Looks like he killed another girl and dolled her up to look like me."

"He? Killed another?..." The questions poured out of Ramza, although he already had a good idea to the answers. Ovelia opened her mouth to speak, but the words just wouldn't come.

"Delita tried to kill her." Agrias said, very angrily. "She still claims that she attacked him first, and he lost his temper. But I wonder if he wasn't planning this all along, just to get the throne."

"He seemed shaken..." Ovelia protested weakly.

"Why are you trying to defend that monster?!" Agrias demanded.

"I thought I could trust him..." She said in a small whisper. Through the mob of Ramza's allies that had gathered around, Alma pushed her way forward, supporting Ovelia.

"We're not leaving yet, are we?" She asked Ramza immediately, seeing the look on his face.

"That man is a manipulator of the worst kind." Orlandu said angrily. "We must give him what he deserves!"

"Anyone who uses people for their own ends deserves to be taken out." Rafa said, grimacing.

"Anyone who would kill someone they're supposed to love, deserves immediate death." Meliadoul swore, obviously thinking of Izlude. Everyone in Ramza's party fell into a general chorous of agreement, gradually growing louder. Looking around, he saw that half the population of Warjilis seemed to be gathered around their group now. It was no use trying to hide any longer. Ramza threw off his cloak.

"No Alma, we're not leaving yet." The crowd gasped as their suspicions were confirmed. "Okay troops, we're marching to Zeltennia!" The crowd gradually cheered as the word spread, even though none of them had any clue of _why_ Ramza was marching. His men threw off their robes and began walking back into the city.

"He did use me... But I thought... I thought he loved me anyway..." Ramza heard Ovelia whisper.

"Its possible he did." Ramza said softly. "But Ovelia, if this is how he handles a domestic quarrel, what kind of a king is he going to make?" He turned to Roberto, who had stayed behind. "Round up a flock of chocobos for us. We need to move fast." Roberto nodded. Ramza quickly walked back up to the front of his people. He saw Whitman and Vincent, the two who had been with him since the very beginning, just behind him, and uttered a phrase that only they would appreciate. "Now we must fight. Eeaaaaaaagh!!"

"Eeaaaaaagh!!" They raised their fists in the air.

"Eeaaaaaagh!!" The cry spread throughout the crowd, until it could be heard throughout the city.

.

"Ramza, what did you get? I..." - Delita Hyral

.

(Nanaki's note: The last thing fanfics at Icy's needed was ANOTHER Vincent, so why is there one here? Simple. I based this fic entirely on my own initial playthrough of Tactics, and my dedicated magic user just happened to be named Vincent. Likewise, my dedicated ninja was named Roberto. Really, it's the game's fault that there's a Vincent in this story, not mine.)


	2. The Manipulator and the Subservient

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 2**

**The Manipulator And The Subservient**

By Nanaki

Zeltennia Castle

"You say Ramza Beoulve is not only alive, but leading his men here? That's ridiculous!" Delita said, appearing angry on the outside.

"But your highness, the sources from Warjilis have hardly ever been wrong." The squire bowed low before him.

"Even if Ramza is alive, which I severely doubt, what cause does he have to come here?" Delita demanded. But inside he was shaken. He had never been able to find Ovelia's body. He had left the scene for only enough time to come up with his cover story, but when he returned, she was gone. Since then, he had been afraid that one of the few small factions opposing him had gotten ahold of it. If Ramza had somehow found out, there could be substantial trouble. "We must find some way to distract him from coming here." Delita frowned.

"Huh? But didn't you just say..." The squire trailed off as he realized he was getting in over his head.

"What would he consider important enough to take his time for?" What indeed?

.

Baraius Hill

It was the same old nightmare. It was always the same. The snowy wasteland of Fort Zeakden surrounding him. Algus, taking aim for the fatal shot. Himself, running forward, too late to stop it. But this time, there was a new twist. "Stop!!" He heard himself shouting. "You're creating a monster!!"

Next to Algus, Zalbag rippled, and suddenly, Dycedarg stood in his place. "Good!" He shouted. "All of your allies deserve whatever they get! You just stood by while they ended the Beoulve reign!"

"I was trying to kill you! I was glad when Orlandu blew your brains out!"

"Why? Why were you against power passing to the Beoulves?"

"**YOU KILLED BALBANES!!** You killed Teta, whether you were here or not! You created the monster!!"

"There are so many "monsters" in the world. I certainly didn't create the Bloody Angel. Do you even know who you're referring to?"

"**Delitaaaaa!!**" Ramza sat up, gasping in the cold night air. Everyone knew that Ramza didn't sleep very well, and so only Roberto paid any attention. They all rolled over and went right back to sleep. Except, the one person who wasn't used to him slowly sat up.

"Its good to know I'm not the only one who does that." Ovelia said softly.

"Don't worry about it. You need to be resting."

"How can I? How can I rest, or sleep? The nightmares will only come back."

"For now. I've got to _make_ them go away." Ramza clenched his fist.

"How will you do that? I thought I was finally safe with him, but the nightmare was only beginning."

"He's become just what he used to hate, and he doesn't realize it. Ovelia, what really happened to you, on that day?"

"Word came that you had followed the Shrine Knights into Murond. After no one saw you or the Zodiac Stone monsters again, it was generally assumed that you were dead. Delita didn't seem to care, so I got mad at him. I mean, really mad. I yelled at him that he used me, and everyone, and then... I attacked him. I yelled that he was going to kill me, "just like Ramza," and then... he did. He totally lost it when I said that..."

Ramza thought for a minute. "There are two possible sides to the story." He said at length. "Either he really did lose his temper, and handled the whole affair _very_ badly, or..." He sighed heavily. "Or he married you just to get the throne, and planned to kill you all along."

"Ramza... What are you going to do?"

Meliadoul's voice drifted back. "Ramza, will you shut up?"

Agrias kicked her from her own sleeping bag. "Shhh! He's talking to Ovelia!"

"Hey! We're trying to sleep over here Agrias!" Mustadio shouted from farther away. After a few moments of arguing, everyone settled back down to sleep, with a few grumbles coming from Meliadoul's direction.

Ramza smiled a little, before he remembered Ovelia's question. "Well, if he did lose his temper, I'm going to forcibly remove him from the throne until such a time as he can prove he can handle any dispute with fair and objective judgement."

"And if... If he..." Ovelia couldn't bring herself to say it.

"If it was premeditated, then I'm going to kill him." Ramza said simply. He looked up at the sky for a minute, then got out of his sleeping bag. "Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight. You should try to rest though." Ovelia lay back down, although he doubted she would get any sleep either. Ramza walked away from the group until he came to the trees where the chocobos were tied up. He untied Boco, scratching the energetic bird under the chin. "Hey boy, feel like going for a ride?"

Boco warked happily, and Ramza hopped up on his back. "At least life is simple for you." Ramza sighed. "All you have to do is run or fight. Actually... that's really all I do. So why does everything seem so complicated?" Boco only warked softly in response, and ran even faster.

.

Dorter Trade City

"What's really bothering you, Ramza?" Agrias asked as they passed through the Dorter slums. He gave her a funny look. "No, there's something besides the obvious." Ramza quickly glanced back at the rest of the group. They were all marching along silently, Roberto and Orlandu bringing up the rear guard. Whitman had a crossbow half-concealed under his robe. Ramza sighed softly. Why didn't Rafa ever bug him like this?

"We never found the Leo stone." He said, hoping that would satisfy her.

"Hmm..." She glared at him. "Why does that bother you?"

"Someone could use the holy stone to summon Lucavi..."

"So? We'd just kill 'em, like all the others."

"Maybe." Ramza said, turning onto another street.

"Uh, Ramza? This isn't the way to Zeklaus." Roberto ran up to him.

"I know." Ramza said grinning. He turned around quickly. "Orlandu, I want you, Agrias, and Meliadoul to go ahead to Zeltennia. You'll function primarily as a Dark Knight, and between the three of you, you can easily kill anything that gets in your way."

Orlandu nodded, taking this all in stride. "Uh huh. And where will you be going?"

"I forgot to mention. Take the southern route, through Limberry." He said before answering. "The rest of us will be heading to Igros, to muster the remains of the Hokuten. Or so it will seem to casual observers..." Suddenly, Whitman's crossbow twanged, and a man fell from a third story window. Roberto walked over, scanning the dead man's clothing.

"Just as I thought. Nanten insignia."

"Considering Ivalice is supposedly united now, why are there still two sides?" Rafa stepped forward.

"Would trust the surviving Riovanes troops who served directly under Barinten?" Ramza asked her. Then he continued. "If it all works out, the Hokuten will press through Goland and up through Doguola pass, while we will also follow behind on the Limberry route."

"And just what are you hoping to accomplish?" Rafa asked him.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "That... I'm not sure of."

"So the point would be what?"

"Before, we did almost exactly what Delita wanted. I figure that the more unpredictable we are, the harder it will be for someone to use us."

"That's really paranoid." Meliadoul observed.

"And rightly so." Rafa countered. "I know what its like to be used..."

"I have to wonder though," Ramza sighed again, "who's using who here?"

"You seem to be using us." Meliadoul said, provoking him.

"I'm only doing this because I want to." Orlandu told her sternly. "You know very well that no one can make me do anything I don't want. Now, we're going to Limberry!" With that, Orlandu walked off, without a look back. He and everyone else knew he would be okay, no matter what happened.

"Take good care of Ovelia, okay?" Agrias asked Ramza.

"Yeah... Of course." Ramza nodded solemnly. "As long as I'm alive, she will be too." He said bowing, half joking, half serious.

"Okay." She said smiling. "I hope you know what you're doing."

'So do I.' He thought. 'So do I.'

.

"I just know, I'd give my life for her..." - Delita Hyral


	3. The Valiant

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 3**

**The Valiant**

By Nanaki

Igros, Capital of Gallione

Ramza spotted the highest pinnacle of Igros castle, and sighed heavily. He could practically see Dycedarg's learing face, glaring over Balbanes' still form. "Last time we came home, we got less than a warm welcome." Vincent grimaced.

"Home? Oh, I don't think of this as home." Ramza said absently.

"Well, you know what I mean. What do you consider home then?" Vincent asked.

"Nowhere." He said simply. "Home has to be a place you care about. I don't care about any place we've been to. That's why we were leaving."

Vincent switched topics. "Just what are you planning to do to Delita?"

"Why do you ask?"

But Vincent knew him better than that. "We killed plenty of women during the Lion war."

"I never enjoyed it!"

"You think I did? You think Delita did? Right now, you're reminding me of Wiegraf."

"Maybe so. But Wiegraf was in the right, you know. Until Velius took control of him, he was in the right..." Then, they were at the gate.

"State your name and business!" A female voice shouted.

"Ramza and Alma Beoulve, here to assert our authority!" Ramza shouted. There was a moment of silence. Then, the gate started flying open so fast Ramza thought the chains would break. Once it was above his head, a female knight came flying out of the opening.

"Oh my god! I can't believe you're alive!" She threw her arms around him. Ramza pushed her away far enough to see who it was.

"Clara? You're still with the Hokuten?"

"Yes. After you sent me on my way," she said with a trace of bitterness, "I came back to Igros. Zalbag had heard that I served under you, so he took me in. I was mad at you for a while, but I started blessing my luck when it seemed like you all died at Orbonne. But, why did you come back here?"

"We didn't plan on it. But we need men to dethrone a mad tyrant, and command of the Hokuten is almost my hereditary right."

"A mad tyrant? You don't mean Delita!"

"What kind of king kills his queen?" He said bluntly.

"What do you mean? It was a riding accident."

"Ovelia, maybe you better explain." Ramza stepped aside, revealing Ovelia's weak figure.

Clara's jaw dropped. "This is too much... You'll have to talk it over with Zalbag's top men. I'm assuming you don't want to see any of Dycedarg's people?"

"You assume correctly. I'll see them after dinner this evening."

"Um... There's one other item you need to know about. Just before he went to kill Dycedarg, Zalbag told us that if you survived and he didn't, he wanted you to take care of his son."

"His _son_?!" Ramza's jaw dropped.

"Zalbag had a son?" Alma asked, more calmly.

"You didn't know? He's about two years old now."

"Who was the boy's mother?" Ramza asked, regaining his powers of speech.

"Alicia, one of the knights who served under Agrias. She died in the Lion war."

"Wow. This is certainly a surprise."

"He was... rather promiscuous."

"What does that mean?"

"He bedded well and often." Alma elbowed him in the ribs.

The thought was foreign to Ramza. "Sounds nice. I wonder how he managed it."

"Well, when you're not allowed to get involved with the male knights, and you can kill normal guys with your bare hands, who else are you gonna go with? Besides, that goatee was simply to die for!"

"You too?" Ramza asked, scratching his beardless chin.

"Everyone too." She blushed a little. "Really, I'm surprised he only had one kid. You want to meet the boy now?"

"Well, yeah. Of course." He nodded.

Clara turned around, then stopped, spotting a pair of eyes peering around the corner. "Oh. And he's already here. Come on out." he boy stepped out into the hall, then walked forward nervously. Ramza kneeled down, to appear less imposing. The boy alked up to him, then kneeled down himself, his eyes bowed to the floor.

"Hey, no. Don't do that." Ramza easily lifted him to his feet. The boy looked extremely surprised. "What's your name?"

"Balbanes, sir." He said quietly.

'Of course.' Ramza smiled. 'At least Zalbag had some respect.' "I'm very glad to meet you Balbanes."

"Thank you sir."

"And I'm not sir. Just Ramza. And this is Alma." Balbanes stood back and bowed to her.

She laughed. "Well. Looks like Zalbag drilled some manners into him. You could learn a thing or two, O master warlord." Ramza ignored her. "I'll have dinner in his chambers, wherever they are."

"Right where Zalbag used to be."

"Very well." Then he turned back to Balbanes. "Well young sir, I'd like to hear all about you."

"Really?" Balbanes asked, surprised again.

"Sure. I'd like to hear about your parents, especially." With that, they walked off down the hall.

.

"So Ramza won't be joining us?" Whitman asked, nervously looking at all the Hokuten seated in the main mess hall. "I mean, we killed some of their brothers and sisters..."

"What, you need Ramza to take care of us all the time?" Roberto asked him.

"No." Whitman said, P.O.ed. "I just think he might have stuck around to break the ice, at least."

"You'll be fine." Clara told him. "Sure, some of them aren't too fond of you. But just picture yourself in a Nanten hall. This is a lot better, right?"

"I guess so."

Just then, Vincent held his head, being careful to avoid impaling his hand on his summoner's horn. "There's something not right about the magic here... Something, with the stones?"

"The stones?" Mustadio asked apprehensively. Most of the people in the hall continued eating, oblivious to the odd exchange.

"There's something new... Is it, Leo?"

"The Leo stone?" Rad spoke up. "It got out of Murond?"

"What do you mean "it" got out?" Mustadio demanded. "Doesn't it need a human to activate it?"

"Maybe it found one." Rafa said quietly.

"Its getting closer..." Vincent whispered hoarsely. Then, a brightly glowing object floated in through an open window. Still, most people ignored it until it began to gather energy. Ghost like forms floated in and out of the stone in the typical Lucavi fashion. A huge energy explosion rocked the room. Standing on the main table stood a huge, humanoid, white lion.

"Battle formation!" Rad screamed. Vincent jumped behind him. Whitman unsheathed his Kiyomori, and Roberto readied two flails. Beowulf and Reis prepared to attack from the right flank. Mustadio, Rafa, and Malak prepared to attack from afar. Ovelia backed to the far end of the room. As the Hokuten scattered, the lion growled in a feral tone.

"The will of the heirs has summoned me... Where is the child?" No one knew what he was talking about. "You must give me the child, or you will face the wrath of Gablazar, the devil!" No child was forthcoming, and the mass of Hokuten moved in for the attack, so Gablazar got the jump on them. The Zodiac Stone monster charged forward, sending several knights flying through the air.

Rad led Ramza's men forward, pulling out his Oberisk. "Stand aside people, let the big boys through!"

Gablazar turned to watch them. "I have no quarrel with you..."

"Oh yeah?" Rad demanded. "Well I've got a quarrel with you, Lucavi!" He charged forward, driving the huge spear head at the monster.

"Lucavi? You have no clue, do you?" Gablazar asked scornfully, easily sidestepping the blow. Roberto darted forward, slashing his two giant flails into the monster. Gablazar sent him flying with a simple backhand slap. "Very well. You force me to put you out of your misery." The monster began to advance on Whitman and Rad, but then it stopped and sniffed the air. "Those who served the traitor are here..." He turned toward the left side of the mess hall, where a group of middle aged knights formed a defensive circle.

"Hey." Whitman nudged Vincent. "Aren't those mostly Dycedarg's old soldiers?"

"Yeah. Why is that important?" The white lion charged the circle of knights, completely ignoring Rad's faction. It began to slaughter them almost with glee. Where it had merely pushed the others out of the way, blood flew everywhere now.

"Should we really try to help them?" Rad sighed.

"Ramza would." Whitman sighed as well.

"Bahamut's already on call." Vincent told them.

"All right. Until the big boy gets here, let's give him all we've got!" Rad, Whitman, and Roberto charged forward, while Ovelia threw up Barriers around them. Rad was the first to reach the fray, and his Oberisk stabbed deep into the monster's side. Gablazar counterattacked with a vicious claw rake. Rad almost collapsed, but he managed to muster the strength for a vicious slice of his own, cutting down to the meat of the bone. Roberto darted back and forth, throwing fire balls at the monster. Whitman circled warily, trying to find a good opening to strike.

Beowulf came from out of nowhere, doing nowhere near as much damage as Rad had done, and seemingly taking even worse in return. "You fools!" Gablazar roared. "Give it up! Let me go about my business!"

Beowulf said nothing, but swung his sword upward. Energy crackled from it, and the others recognized the telltale signs of his Shock technique. A huge explosion erupted underneath Gablazar, and he was almost knocked off his feet. He quickly looked back and forth between the old Hokuten knights and Ramza's soldiers, before continuing to attack the Hokuten.

"He just doesn't learn." Whitman growled, preparing to rush forward again.

"There's no need. He's here!" Vincent said happily. A tremendous roaring sound was heard outside, and a huge blast of dragon fire disentegrated the roof and slammed into Gablazar. The incredible heat set his fur on fire, and he roared in frustration. The old Hokuten knights finally pressed their advantage, surrounding the monster, and slashing at him mercilessly.

"Why can't you understand?" He roared, then growled low. "The time was wrong. I must go now, but I will return." With that, he vanished into a large white explosion. The Leo stone clattered to the floor, but then began to float toward the window.

"Don't let it get away!" Rad shouted. He jumped for the stone, but it was too late. It floated out the window, then rocketed into the sky.

.

"So how did it get out of Murond?" Ramza asked after hearing the whole story.

"That's what we don't know." Vincent sighed. "Maybe the energy of our other stones summoned it here."

"Yes... But I thought that when we killed Altima, Lucavi went along with it."

"That would be a complicated thing." Vincent said. "But it seemed to think that it wasn't Lucavi."

"What was it then?"

"Well, it was a white lion. And what's on the Hokuten flag?"

"A white lion." Ramza nodded. "Could it be the spirit of some dead Hokuten knight?"

"But why would it attack other Hokuten?" Rad wondered out loud. Ramza, Whitman, and Vincent just gave him a funny look.

"Why would we? Because they killed one of our own." Ramza said simply.

"So maybe this is just a knight that was betrayed by the Hokuten." Vincent hazarded a guess.

"That would explain it, except, why did it only attack the knights that had served under Dycedarg? Even after we hit it pretty good, it paid more attention to them." Whitman pointed out.

"That, I couldn't tell you." Vincent shook his head.

.

Ramza looked up from the papers he had been reading as a knight walked in the door. He did not bow to Ramza, and from his insignia, Ramza saw that he had been Zalbag's second in command. That would make him the leader of the Hokuten now, pretty much. "Ramza Beoulve?" He asked out of politeness only. Ramza nodded. "My name is Cyran. I served under your brother Zalbag."

"I assume that the gossip has already informed you that I need men to send against Delita?"

Cyran's eyes widened imperceptibly. "Yes, although even after I saw Ovelia, I wasn't sure if it was true."

"It is. I'd like you to lead the Hokuten through Gariland to Dorter, then go up through Goland and Lesalia, and approach Zeltennia from the northern route."

"You don't want us to split up?"

"A certain Thunder God has the southern route covered." Ramza said, smiling a little.

"I see. I take it from your tone of voice that you won't be going with us?"

There was something about this knight that made Ramza want to trust him. "Yes. We'll be going through Fovoham and Riovanes, and then, off the well traveled roads."

"Normally I would flat out refuse." Cyran said, then brought up a hand to silence Ramza's protest. "But normally, a commoner doesn't marry a queen just to get the throne, and then murder her. I'll lead 300 men on the route you described. I don't want to take any more though. Delita hasn't tried to bend us to his authority yet, and I want enough soldiers here to resist if it's necessary."

"As do I." Ramza smiled. "If we succeed, you won't have to worry about that."

"If we succeed, then I have to worry about Dycedarg's faction going imperial on me. None of them believe he killed your father."

"Idiots." Ramza grimaced. "Well, good luck. We'll be setting out as soon as possible. Oh, one further note. We'll be taking Balbanes along, unless you want to leave him here when all of Dycedarg's troops are in command."

"No. He'll be safer with you than anyone else I could imagine."

"Good. I hope to be seeing you at Zeltennia."

"Just don't lag behind too much." Cyran grinned for the first time.

.

Fort Zeakden

"Well, here we are at the cause of all the nightmares." Ramza sighed, viewing the blasted remains of the former Death Corps fort.

"So this is your special place huh?" Ovelia asked, tired from being in the saddle all day. "I have to admit, I don't look forward to seeing the remains of the Zeltennia church again." Then she turned all the way around, viewing the scene with mild interest. "This is where Teta was killed?"

"Yes. This is where Algus, and Zalbag, created a monster." Ramza grimaced. Ovelia sighed when she figured out Ramza was referring to Delita. He wondered why. "I have to wonder though, if it was Zalbag's fault, or if he just left it up to Algus' discretion, or if they were both following Dycedarg's orders."

"Probably a combination of all three." Vincent said, coming up behind them. "Though I have to admit, I wasn't overly sorry to roast Algus, or to see Delita kill him."

"Why wasn't that enough?" Ramza asked the landscape. But then he asked himself, 'if Algus had killed Alma, would you killing him have been enough? No.' He realized. 'I would have gone after Zalbag too. Maybe that's why he joined up with the Nanten. But that still doesn't explain why he killed so many people who were in no way responsible!'

"Ramza, the night'll go a lot faster if you just get to sleep." Rad said, laying out his own sleeping bag.

"Maybe you're right." Ramza sighed again, tying Boco to a protruding spar. He saw Alma helping Balbanes off the Black Chocobo she had gotten used to riding, and tie it up as well. Like he would get any sleep tonight. He could still picture Teta's blood dripping off the bridge. But he swallowed a small portion of their rations and rolled out his bag anyway.

.

Ramza woke up just as the moon passed behind some low clouds, snuffing out most of the light that had been shining dimly on the camp. The fire had long since gone out in the cold mountain air. There was nothing that should have woken him up, and he had actually been having a rare, dreamless sleep. Nevertheless, he felt ill at ease. Something made him look toward the small rise where Zalbag and Algus had been standing on that fateful day. It had seemed smooth before, but now there was a small imperfection in the surface, as if a small rock had settled there.

He rose to his feet even before it started glowing, quickly locating the Masamune and drawing it. Roberto was the next one up, and he silently pulled out his flails. Then, the stone flashed brightly, and streams of energy began flowing into it. "Troops, get ready!" Ramza roared. A none too friendly laugh was heard, and a narrow burst of energy blinded him for a second. When his eyes readjusted to the darkness, a very large figure was standing on the rise. A very large, white figure.

"Gablazar!" Rad shouted, picking up his Oberisk. Ramza took a look at the length of the monster's arms, then sheathed the Masamune and drew his own Oberisk.

Gablazar growled menacingly, his bulging form casting odd half-shadows in the darkness. "Give me the child." His throat rumbled simply, a finger pointed to where Balbanes was cowering against Alma. Ramza viewed the sight with horror.

"No! This is my brother Zalbag's only son! I'll never let you have him!"

"Make this easy on yourself, and surrender immediately."

"You're mad, devil! Everyone, battle formation! Eeaaaaaagghhhh!!"

"Eeaaaaaagghhhh!!" Came the answering cry. Ramza and Rad charged forward, their huge spears leveled at the monster, Roberto swinging his flails behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, Ramza saw the rest of his crew charging forward, Rafa and Malak in the lead. Suddenly, a blue beam of light began to shine from the sky. "Jump!" He quickly shouted. "Everyone else, stay back!" Malak jumped backward, but Rafa seemed not to hear him, and he realized she was already concentrating on her unique brand of magic. Rad and Roberto rocketed skyward as the large blue explosion of the Ultima spell raced toward them. Making a snap decision, Ramza jumped backward, pulling Rafa out of the way of the spell, and grinding them both roughly into the dirt upon landing.

"Huh? Why'd you do that?" Rafa asked, surprised.

"Uh, there was a very big explosion just now, if you didn't notice."

"So? Normally you just assume the monster will die before we do."

"Well..." Suddenly, Ramza was knocked to the ground as Roberto barreled into him.

"Hey Ramza," Roberto brushed some flowing blood off his shoulder, "feel like giving us a hand?"

"Sorry." He said quickly, then charged back into the fray. Gablazar swung his huge limbs with surprising speed, catching Ramza full in the chest. Ramza jumped back, then used both hands to drive the huge spear into the monster's side. 'I sure wish T.G. Cid was here. But then, I didn't exactly count on running into a Zodiac Stone monster. Besides, I beat Velius without him.' As Rad stabbed just as hard from the other side, the monster roared again.

"Why do you refuse to understand? Do you want to make my suffering even worse? Do you want Delita to win?"

"What?!" Ramza gasped, taken aback. "What do you know about..." He trailed off as Rafa's heaven magic surrounded Gablazar, blasting the monster repeatedly. It roared it's frustration again, then disappeared in a white explosion. But this time, following the explosion, many bolts of electricty began flowing into the ground. A sink hole formed, and the ground began to crumble inside as it spread. "Crud! Jump again, people!" Ramza shouted, launching himself into the air. The crumbling of the ground sped up, and the chocobos snapped their tethers to come to the aid of the people. 'Oh, that's reassuring.' Ramza thought sarcastically as he began to descend.

Then Vincent's chocobo panicked as an especially large piece of rock fell. Rafa and Malak were thrown off the back, and Rafa fell into the gaping pit as the ground she was laying on collapsed. Ramza adjusted his angle of descent, and tried to hurry his fall through the air. Once he got down into the hole itself, he used his spear against the wall like a paddle on water to catch up to Rafa. He grabbed her hand, then jammed the Oberisk into the near vertical rock face. He clenched his teeth at the tremendous strain placed on his arm, but the spear held, and then they were simply hanging on. "Well," Rafa gasped, still breathless from the fall, "that was quite impressive. But I have to wonder what's going through your head lately."

Ramza lifted her up to the spear, so he wouldn't have to hold onto her with one arm, and the spear with the other, which was starting to hurt. "Don't ask me. I'm wondering the same thing."

"Well, I never thought we'd be fighting him again." She said, changing the subject. Ramza began to wonder when the others were going to get them out, when a rope was thrown down to them. He gestured for her to grab on first.

"You mean you. That was the first time I'd fought him."

"No, I mean us. You'd fought him before, but he was a little different."

"What? You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"Don't be a fool Ramza. Take the A and the R off the end, then see what you've got." Then, the rope started moving up.

'Take the AR off the end of what? Gablazar? Well that gives you Gablaz. What's the big deal about... I am such an idiot! It was staring me in the face the whole time! That's why he wanted Balbanes! Gablazar knew... no, it's...'

Zalbag.

.

"Ramza! I'm... fighting you?" - Zalbag Beoulve

.

(Nanaki's note: Well, that was probably the best chapter in the story. Hope you enjoyed it. :) Oh, and would you believe, back when I was writing this, I thought having the first four chapter titles being identical to Tactics' four chapter titles was really clever? Once again, I want to smack my younger self.)


	4. Someone To Love

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 4**

**Someone To Love**

By Nanaki

Fovoham Plains

Ramza forced Boco to slow down slightly as the ground flattened out. The bird loved to run, but didn't seem to realize his own limits. Off to one side, he saw the large windmill shed where he had fought Wiegraf for the first time. 'Why did you have to become Velius, Wiegraf?' He wondered to himself. 'By the end, we would have been on the same side. I really could have used your help. I could use it now too.' He sighed audibly. 'I didn't realize how much we'd come to rely on T.G. Cid.'

"What are you sighing about now?" Roberto asked, riding up beside him.

"You wouldn't understand." Ramza frowned.

"Why not?" He frowned in return.

"Order a ten minute rest." He said, ignoring him. "The birds could stand to graze a little." Roberto scowled at him and hurried to follow orders. Ramza let Boco charge up to the windmill shed, then tied the bird up and went inside. He walked blindly in the relative darkness, then stopped. He could still see Delita, furious that Wiegraf had lied to them. Although it had long been Ramza's theory that Wiegraf had been double crossed. 'How many places am I going to see you Delita?' He wondered to himself. 'How many places does Ovelia see you? Orbonne? Lionel? Where else did you go?' Suddenly, he sensed another presence in the room.

"It's just me." Ovelia called as he tensed. "Another place where you and Delita had a rough time?"

"How can you tell?" His face was expressionless.

"He leaves a sort of mark on the flavor of a place. You do too."

"You're quite articulate, Ovelia."

"I'm surprised a soldier like you knows a word like "articulate." Although I suppose you're hardly a common soldier."

"I don't know what I am. That's why we were going to leave."

"Are you still going to?"

"Yes. Perhaps you'd like to come with us?"

"I can't..."

"Why not? There's nothing left for you here. Even less for you than for me."

"Still, I feel like I can't go."

"But, there's no reason... Oh my God..."

"What?" She asked, apprehensive now.

"You still love him, don't you?" He remained expressionless.

She couldn't speak for a long time. "Yes." Then she said in a rush, "I don't know why. Please don't ask me to explain it. There are a million reasons why I shouldn't, but..."

"I'm not going to criticize you Ovelia. I've never been in any situation like this. I'm in no position to lecture you."

"You've never been in love with anyone, have you?" She asked frankly.

"No. Being a heretic mercenary didn't leave much time for a relationship."

"But, you're 22."

"Ah yes." Then, to her amazement, Ramza tilted his head back and laughed. "Oh, we are so screwed up. I wonder if there's any hope for either of us."

"Ramza, the ten minutes are up!" Rafa's shadow appeared in the door.

"Oops. Well, let's get going." Ramza jumped off the crate he had been sitting on and hurried out the door.

"Maybe there's hope for you." Ovelia said dejectedly. She remained silent and motionless for a long time, even when she heard the chocobos being saddled up. "So, how're you doing... Delita?"

.

Riovanes Castle

"This place still gives me the creeps." Ramza grimaced as the chocobos charged toward the castle gates, and hopefully right past. "It looks like it's deserted, even though it's not." The group nodded in general consent. When Boco neared the gate, he suddenly veered in and charged right toward it. "Damn it! I just knew something like this would happen!" He cursed as the gates flew open. The other chocobos charged after Boco, not obeying any commands from the humans. The gates slammed shut behind them.

Boco came to a sudden stop right in the hall where Ramza had killed Velius. "Oh, this really can't be good." Rad groaned. Velius had really knocked the stuffing out of him.

"Relax Rad." Ramza sighed heavily. "It won't be Velius, it'll be Gablazar." Then, he had a sudden idea. "Rad, I need your abilities as a priest. Let Whitman take over the lancing duties."

"Okay..." Rad grimaced, unbuckling his armor and handing it to Whitman.

"What makes you so sure he'll show up?" Mustadio piped up.

"He'll be here." Ramza and Alma said simultaneously. Balbanes nodded from his perch on the chocobo's back.

"Oh crud. Here we go." Vincent frowned, a headache coming on. The Leo stone came crashing through the ceiling like a meteor, impacting into the floor, then lighting up brightly. A large, thin explosion rocked the room, and Gablazar stood there in all his Lucavi glory.

"You think the third time is the charm, huh Gablazar?"

"As many times as it takes." The demon growled angrily. "Give me the boy!"

"Never!" Ramza and Whitman lowered their Oberisks and charged forward. They were immediately met by an Ultima blast, but they both appeared to shrug it off, even though it hurt pretty bad. The two attacked from opposite sides, trying to skewer the monster between them. "Rad, use Holy!" Ramza called.

"If you say so." Rad grimaced. Personally, he didn't think using Holy on something powered by a holy stone was such a hot idea, but he didn't say so. While Rad was warming up, Gablazar grabbed Whitman, and threw him into Ramza. They both crashed into the opposite wall, temporarily dazed. Vincent quickly summoned an Ifrit that set the devil's fur on fire, but didn't do too much else. He scowled and quickly concentrated on getting through to Bahamut.

Mustadio emptied a couple of rounds into the monster, but he knew that his guns couldn't do enough damage at once.

Gablazar picked Whitman up again, and threw him into the ceiling. He fell to the ground, unconcious. He fastened his clawed hands around Ramza's neck, and refused to let go even when Ramza stabbed his Oberisk into him just underneath his arm. Just when Ramza's vision began to fade, a he saw a bright gold flash, and the hand abruptly let him go. As he backed away, he saw more gold flashes surrounding the monster. Looking to the side, he saw it was Rafa that had saved his hide. It also appeared that her Heaven skill was doing significant damage to the monster. 'Will it be enough?' He wondered. Once the spell finally finished, Gablazar definitely looked the worse for wear, but he was still on his feet. 'Crud. No.'

And then Gablazar vanished again as the incredible power of Holy ripped through him. The ultimate white magic pushed him up into the ceiling, then led him fall, where he lay unmoving. The Leo stone began pulsating, and started to lift up. "Quick Rad, again!" Ramza jumped on the stone. It took all his strength to keep it from flying away.

"I'll hit you too." He protested.

"Big deal! I think we can stop this monster once and for all!"

"Okay." Rad sighed, then began charging up Holy again. The stone struggled violently in Ramza's hands, and Gablazar's form began to ripple.

Vincent, who hadn't been paying attention, suddenly shouted, "Oh crud! Ramza, get out of there!" Ramza heard a roaring outside, and he threw the stone down by Gablazar and jumped out of the way. A huge blast of dragon flame fried the downed demon and the stone, and created a very unpleasant burning smell. Even after that bombardment, the stone still tried to struggle away. Ramza quickly jumped forward and subdued it. It surged forward and hit him in the head. He almost let go as he temporarily lost his vision, but he managed to retain a grip on it. Ramza's arms were just about out of strength, when Holy launched up from the floor.

He felt the spell carry him up to the ceiling, eroding his armor on the way. As he hit the floor again, he faintly heard the stone clatter away from his fingers, but didn't have the strength to grab for it. After a few seconds, he managed to rise to his knees, and wearily opened his eyes. The Leo stone was no longer glowing, and was sitting quietly on the stone floor. Not far away was another form, lying on the ground, and it was not Gablazar. Ramza's men hurried forward to help them. As Ramza was helped to his feet by Rad and Vincent, he saw that Rafa had been right. Zalbag slowly began to stir, groaning slightly. He looked up as Mustadio lifted him, rubbing his eyes. "Ramza?"

"Yeah." Ramza coughed.

"I never thought I'd see you again."

"The feeling was mutual." They just looked at each other for a few moments. Then Ramza lowered his eyes and said, "I know we both have a lot of questions. But I have to ask you one thing that's been on my mind before we get into everything. Why did you give the order to kill Teta?"

Zalbag lowered his eyes too. "I didn't. To be fair, I really didn't care that much whether Teta survived or not, although I always try to avoid innocent casualties. I basically left it up to Algus' discretion. He was probably good enough to hit Golagros without hitting her, but I guess he wanted to be sure. I was upset with him after that, which is why I left him there to duke it out with you. But why do you ask, after all this time?"

"You warped Delita's mind pretty bad."

Zalbag quickly looked around, then asked, "What are we doing at Riovanes? Why are you on the move?"

"Think about what I just said."

"That's right. Delita was with the Nanten. But what's going on, exactly?"

"I'll explain after we both get some rest." Zalbag began to protest, before he realized how tired he was.

"All right. I assume that people still live here."

"In other parts of the castle. I believe this "Velius Hall" has been abandoned for good."

"Fine." Zalbag was asleep almost before they left the hall. Ramza and Alma threw him on Boco's back, and they left the hall where two Zodiac Stone Monsters had been defeated.

.

Ramza was dozing on a bed, and Rad, Roberto, and Whitman were cleaning their weapons. Vincent walked in, and the others looked up briefly. "Hey man, where's everyone else?" Whitman asked.

"Most of 'em are asleep, although Rafa's up on the roof. Reminiscing, I guess." They barely had time to blink before Ramza was out the door and heading up the stairs.

"What was that?" Roberto asked, an odd look in his eyes.

Vincent shrugged. "He likes Rafa, I guess."

"What? Why would he...?"

"There a problem 'Berto?" Rad asked boredly.

"That's just... wrong!"

"How so?" Whitman looked up, frowning slightly.

"Well, she's... black."

"Roberto, I'm surprised at you!" Vincent exclaimed. "None of us should have any prejudices!"

"What? I'm surprised at you guys too! What reason is there-"

"Let's use you as an example. When we hired you, you were desperate enough to take a job that five soldiers had died doing. But did we judge you on that? No, and it's a good thing we didn't. You proved your worth countless times. Now you're a master knight and ninja, and a lot better than most of the nobles I know."

"This is a totally different thing."

"No, this is no different." Rad and Whitman nodded in agreement.

"I don't believe this!" Roberto shouted. "I'm out of here!" He picked up his flails and stormed out the door.

"I never knew he was a bigot." Whitman shook his head.

"Ramza never let Rafa or Malak in battle very much. We never had a chance to find out." Vincent sighed.

"You're pretty quiet Rad. What do you think?" Whitman asked, polishing his Kiyomori.

"What do I think?" He scratched his head. "Well, truth be told, I think it would be better if he married a noble girl, politically. But, if he really loves her, then it doesn't matter to me."

"So we all agree?"

"Guys," Vincent broke in, "you know as well as I do, Ramza doesn't need our agreement."

.

Ramza found Rafa sitting on the very top of the roof, looking out at the sunset. "I thought you were resting." She said, not looking up.

He shrugged. "I'm not as tired as I thought." He squinted against the red glare coming from the west. "Why would you come up here, of all places?"

"I don't like to run from the past, I suppose. I did enough of that when Barinten was around."

"What sticks out most in your mind, out of everything?"

"When he shot Malak. I had been so happy that he finally saw the truth, and then, well, bang!" She looked down at the roof for a second. "What about you?"

"I remember being really worried about you." She turned and gave him a skeptical look. "No really! I remember you were almost surrounded by Celia, Lede, and Elmdor. Since I was wearing that bulky Lancer armor, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to you before they killed you. It's a good thing 'Berto saved the day."

She laughed a little. "Yeah, all your men are really something. But I don't think any of them would have turned out so well if they didn't have you for a leader."

"Hmm... I remember that you seemed a little nervous at first, traveling with a bunch of guys like us."

"I did wonder why you didn't have any female troops, except Agrias."

He shrugged again. "I'm not really sure either. It just seems like none of them were as good as my crew." He had come to refer to Whitman, Vincent, Roberto, and Rad as his "crew." "And I'm not just being sexist. They couldn't do the most damage when it counted, but my crew could, especially Roberto and Rad." They both remained silent, and he thought back to what Alma had said.

"I wish I'd been born a man, then I'd be able to help you..." He had thought that sounded crazy at the time, but Ramza could really have used another person like himself. Beating Velius when he was already wounded from Wiegraf had been one of the harder things he had done. Another man like himself would have made the struggle much easier. That had been Delita, until he took off. Well, that was all almost arbitrary. But as he looked at Rafa, he was very glad she was a female. No question about it.

.

When Ramza woke up the next morning, he couldn't help feeling that something was amiss. He saw Rad was keeping watch by the door, and Vincent and Whitman were still in their beds. Roberto was missing, but he had probably gone to get some early breakfast. He got up quietly and walked over to Rad. "What happened to Roberto?" He whispered.

"Uh, he left last night over... ..political differences. He probably went to let off some steam. He should be back any time."

Ramza looked around the room again. "He took his Morning Stars with him. That's kind of odd." Ramza began a more detailed inspection of the supplies. "There's a Muramasa missing too. What did you guys say to him?"

Whitman and Vincent were stirring by now, and Vincent answered. "I really don't think you want to hear it."

"I may need to, if there's more..." Ramza thought for a moment. "His birthday is April 12th..." Then he reached for the heavy duty strongbox they kept the Zodiac stones in.

"What reason would he have to take one of those?" Whitman was curious.

"I'm not sure he would have had a choice in the matter."

"Why would that be?" Vincent shrugged in a wide gesture. "I mean, we finished Lucavi. I'm not sure how Zalbag turned into Gablazar, but he was not a Lucavi monster. Besides, don't the stones have to choose someone?"

"Maybe we're powerful enough to be chosen..." Rad hazarded to guess.

"No. If there's any Lucavi left, it'd go after T.G. Cid first of all." Ramza shook his head. "If there is still any of it left, I don't think it would go back to its original plans, not after we destroyed Altima."

"Then what would the point be?" Vincent had to ask.

"One of the ones we beat wants to even the score, most likely."

"We only fought five out of twelve. Who corresponds to April 12th?" Ramza's voice was very dry as he answered, and some of the color drained from his face.

"Velius."

.

"...Don't be ridiculous! All our equal in his eyes!"

"Animals have no God!!" - Miluda Folles and Algus Sadalfas


	5. Divine Rafa

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 5**

**Divine Rafa**

By Nanaki

Riovanes Castle

"I understand one of your men absconded with a Zodiac Stone." Zalbag said, a dark look in his eyes.

"Yes." Ramza bowed his head. "I thought he was trustworthy. I'm very sorry."

"It's not the monster alone I'm worried about, you know." Ramza looked up, curious. "If it was a single Lucavi Beast, then you and I could just beat the hell out of it like all the others, unless it had another little trick like Adramelk's. What I'm more worried about is if it joins forces with our enemies."

"Why would it do that?"

"Without the Bloody Angel, it doesn't have much hope of domination by itself. So it would need help. We still have eleven of the twelve stones, and I may be able to transform back into Gablazar. I'm not sure how."

"Would you be able to maintain control?" Ramza was concerned.

"I don't know. I seemed to be preoccupied with finding Balbanes before. I'm not sure what I would do if I did lose it."

"Hmm... There's something else that's bothering me too. You're the third person to "return from the dead." Malak was first, and a Temple Knight named Balk was the second. Is it possible that Vormav and the rest of them could come back?"

"Kletian and Rofel didn't have stones." Rad broke in.

"Um... Did anyone actually see Rofel die?" Whitman asked, a worried look in his eyes.

"I wouldn't worry about them right now. Velius is our top priority, and then Delita. But could they come back, Zalbag?" Ramza asked.

"I suppose if I could, they could too. It's a very odd zone they're all in, and I don't remember much about it. I know Dycedarg's never coming back. I made sure of that. And I must have wrestled control of the Leo stone away from Vormav somehow. But Draclau, Wiegraf, and Elmdor? I don't know." Zalbag remained silent for a moment. "It won't do to chase shadows now. We need to set about tracking Velius as soon as possible. The one thing I would like to know is, why did this guy take off in the first place?"

"Well..." Ramza grimaced. "I believe it was a political disagreement over a, um, romantic interest of mine." Zalbag just looked at him for a minute. "What?"

"It's about freakin' time!" He smiled, pounding Ramza on the back. "I thought I saw you stealing a glance at Rafa. So, he was a bigot huh?"

"It seems like it. Although, where Velius is concerned, even that may not have been of his own volition."

"I get the feeling you don't like Velius."

"That's the understatement of the year." Ramza smiled thinly. Then he looked up sharply. "If Velius can come back, does that mean Queklain and all those other Zodiac Stone Monsters can come back too?"

Zalbag nodded. "And once there's at least one firmly established here, the other seven can come on in too. I don't know whether they would use the same human hosts as before or not. But if Zalera comes around, I wouldn't be surprised to see Elmdor too."

"I don't think I even want to know what Cancer looks like." Ramza shuddered. "Okay then, we better get tracking Velius as soon as possible."

"I don't think finding him will be too difficult. I think knowing what to do when we find him will be the hard part."

"Killing him came to mind." Ramza smiled openly now.

"Not if you want to save your man." Zalbag shook his head.

"Hmm... I'll know what to do when the time comes. I always have so far. Let's get the chocobos saddled up and move out."

.

Doguola Pass

Ramza tossed uneasily in his sleep. Delita, Dycedarg, and Velius were all attacking him at once. But this time, Zalbag was fighting alongside him, beating the crap out of Dycedarg. He tried to concentrate his attack on Delita, but Velius kept blocking his way. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Wiegraf jumped down into the scene, and to Ramza's immense surprise, began attacking Velius.

"What the-?! Wiegraf, why are you-?"

"No time to explain!" Wiegraf shouted, burying his sword into the devil. "Just go for Delita, Ramza!"

"All right, but..."

"Now Ramza!..."

"Ramza." Someone was shaking him awake.

"Huh?" He wearily opened his eyes. A dark figure was standing over him. He couldn't make out who it was right away. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he gasped in surprise. "Rafa?"

"Yes. It's me." She whispered.

"What's going on? What do you want?" He sat up in his sleeping bag.

"Those are two difficult questions to answer. Look, I know you like me. A lot."

"I-" Ramza began to say something, but she cut him off. For some reason, he felt a lot more nervous and apprehensive right now than during almost any battle he'd ever been in.

"Let me finish here. To tell the truth, I like you too. You were willing to help me out when everyone else was turning on me."

His eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "And that's the only reason why-?"

"Don't be ridiculous." She scolded him. "You're also handsome, honest, trustworthy, and kind, among other things. But there's one thing I want to know."

"And that is?"

"How come you never let me in battle? The only time you did, only one lousy goblin was in Sweegy Woods."

"Well, uh... I gotta go with my crew." He stammered.

"Oh come on!" She scolded him again. "How many hundreds of battles did you fight just out in the field? You could have let me in on some."

"You know, battle isn't the fun thing you make it out to be. You should have figured that out from Gablazar."

"It probably isn't, but I still want to experience it for myself. Against normal, defeatable monsters, not some holy stone powered lion."

"You're serious about this?" He still found it a little hard to believe.

"Yes. Just once, but yes."

Ramza sighed, then threw off his sleeping bag and slowly stood up. "All right."

"What? I didn't mean right this minute." She looked up at him, surprised.

"It's something I'd rather be done with as soon as possible." He said as he buckled on his armor.

"Okay..." She seemed a bit taken aback. They had all been surprised already this morning when Ramza had announced that they were going on to Doguola Pass instead of Goland. He had pointed out that the other road would have eventually taken them back to Dorter, and he didn't want the whole long trip to be for nothing. He was just trying to be unpredictable again, as far as she could tell.

Ramza had another reason to go out and look for trouble right this minute. He wanted this battle to be unpleasant enough so that she wouldn't want to do it again. At least, he wanted it to seem that way. He didn't know if he could fake a Meatbone Slash, but he wanted to scare her out of her fascination with battle. She would probably be seeing more soon enough. After walking about half a mile along the ridge, Ramza spotted a soft glow. There were a couple of bombs hovering around not too far off. "You see those bombs down there?" He pointed. She nodded. "Will they do?"

"I suppose." She answered, not exactly sure what to say. Ramza guided her to a postion fairly close to the bombs. The flaming creatures suddenly looked their direction noticing them for the first time. "Eeaaaagghh!" Ramza jumped up shouting, but not too loud, because he didn't want to wake everyone else up. He ran up to the nearest bomb and stabbed into it hard. Rafa didn't notice that he was using a measly javelin instead of his Oberisk. He had that strapped to his back, in case of an emergency, along with the Masamune. The bomb responded by biting him. Ramza staggered backward, as if it had hit him really hard. Rafa seemed to be buying his performance. She warily ran up and whacked the bomb with her rod. Three other bombs surrounded them, biting into them with their red hot flames. Ramza quickly ran up and hit the first one again, and it vanished in a puff of smoke. There really wasn't much strategy. They just double teamed each bomb in turn, even as the bombs double teamed them, until they were all gone. Ramza sat down, breathing hard. He hadn't emerged unscathed, but he was still acting a little. "I... I'm sorry I was so stubborn about that Ramza." Rafa looked at him with concern, although she had probably actually got hit worse. "I just wanted to know what it was like to fight with you, and against monsters instead of people."

"Well now you know." He was still breathing hard. Rafa sat down next to him. Suddenly, the sound of another creature breathing was audible directly behind them. Ramza started to jump back up, but a huge paw with large claws ripped into his armor a second before he could. The sound of the fight had woken up a behemoth that had been sleeping nearby, and it didn't look happy to have woken up. "Oh shit!" Ramza dropped the javelin and quickly drew out the Oberisk, stabbing it into the monster. At least, he thought so. But without the light of the bombs, it was very difficult to tell. In his overzealous stab, he had actually driven his spear straight into the ground. The behemoth merely kicked him away as it clawed at Rafa. She brought up her rod to defend, but the behemoth's strong claws merely broke it in two and cut into her midsection anyway. She sank to her knees, but managed to blast it with Asura.

Ramza charged forward again, making sure to hit the behemoth this time. It roared and brought both claws down on him. Ramza found that he didn't have to fake the Meatbone Slash. Somehow, the behemoth was still standing after that. Ramza couldn't see it very well in the dark. Perhaps it was actually a king behemoth. He backed up to attack from farther away. The behemoth lunged toward him. He jumped to the side, and the beast's teeth cut through his belt. The two other weapons he had taken with him were thrown to the ground. As he landed on his stomach, he let go of the Oberisk also. Still woozy, he reached for the nearest weapon. The behemoth clawed at him again, but he managed to dodge. That would be the last thing it did, Ramza was sure of it. He brought the spear down hard. The behemoth roared in pain, but it still stood. Looking dumbly at the weapon he had in his hand, Ramza realized he had hit it with the javelin! He began to curse as the behemoth jumped toward him, its jaws open wide.

Suddenly, the monster's head exploded in a shower of blood. The behemoth's body landed on top of Ramza, pinning him to the dirt. Looking up, he saw Mustadio stood there, the barrel of his gun smoking. "Ramza, have you completely lost what was left of your mind?" He demanded.

"I... It's quite possible." He sighed, then struggled out from under the thing.

"It's my fault, really." Rafa bowed, partly in guilt, partly to try to staunch the flow of blood from her wound.

Mustadio just shook his head at them. "I don't know what you two thought you were doing. I don't see any other monsters around here, so I'll leave you to stagger back to camp at your liesure." With that, he holstered his gun and walked off.

"What was that test about Rafa?" Ramza sat down on the grass, wincing in pain. "Because I'm pretty sure that was some kind of test on your part."

"I'm not exactly sure." She sat next to him. "I suppose I was trying to reassure myself that you weren't just using me." She silenced his unspoken protest. "No, I don't have any idea what you would use me for. I think I'm even more paranoid than you."

"I am using you, in a way..." She looked at him sharply. "To fill my need for a companion. I hope you don't mind." He found that his armor was badly dented, so he began to unbuckle it.

"Not at all." She smiled at him now, but then winced. "I don't think I can make it back to the camp right now."

"Me neither." Ramza grunted as he lifted the bulk of his torso armor off of him.

"But it's going to get cold just laying here. Um... Would it bother you if I slept in your arms?"

"I think you already know the answer to that." Ramza lay back on his side, and put his arms around her waist, careful to avoid her wound. Much as he would have liked to savor the moment, he found himself falling asleep in just a few minutes. For once in his life, he didn't have any nightmares.

.

"Unless you make it to the top, you're only gonna be used, so you're better off dead!" - Gaff Gafgarion


	6. Those Who Seek the Holy Stone

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 6**

**Those Who Seek The Holy Stone**

By Nanaki

Zeltennia Castle

"What in the bottomless pit of your stupidity do you want now?!" Delita ranted, extremely annoyed at the moment. Ramza had not been sighted in many days now, and he was edgy. The scout bowed his head low.

"Sir. You've had the scouts out for a long time without much rest. We need a break." He said nervously.

"Ramza's not going to be taking a break!" He shouted.

"You don't need to concern yourself with Ramza." Delita turned, then abruptly gave the new arrival his full attention. The female mage refused to reveal her identity, and covered herself with the garb of a divine knight, as well as a dark blue cloth across her face. Only her striking eyes were visible. "Ramza is all over the map. I could tell you where he is, but it wouldn't do you any good. He's been moving so sporadically I can't tell what his intentions are. What I can tell you is that T.G. Cid is only a day away from here, as well as Meliadoul Tingel and Agrias Oaks.

"Agrias is going to be trouble." He grimaced. "I believe I'll take a short trip to Lesalia, to remind all the bureaucrats who's in charge. They seem to think that because I choose to stay in Zeltennia, I'm not the king." He turned back to his mysterious ally. He wanted to do everything in his power to make sure she stayed an ally, because if she turned against him, the result would be disastrous. The only thing he knew for sure about her was that she wanted Ramza's head on a platter, but he didn't have a clue why. "Will it be possible to have Velius here in my absence?"

"That's up to him." She shook her head. "But I could probably persuade Rofel to lure Ramza here."

"Rofel?!" His eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't worry, he hasn't realized exactly how much you screwed him over yet." She reassured him. "Be glad Vormav didn't survive the conflict, because I'm sure he did realize."

Delita shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Worrying about that won't do me any good. I'm going to Lesalia with 1,000 men." He turned and left the room, his cape billowing behind him.

"So much for you, Cyran." She smiled. "I think I'll pay a visit to Miss Tingel..."

.

Finath River

Cyran awoke slowly. He hadn't wanted to get closer to Zeltennia than this until Ramza sent word. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he was immensely surprised to see that Zeltennia had come to him. "Well, well. The man who thought he could evade my authority shows himself at last." Delita had a sword pointed at his neck.

"I don't see how a commoner who marries a queen and then kills her just to get the throne has any authority." Cyran stated calmly. Delita's jaw dropped, and all of his men close enough to hear gasped, and quickly spread the word.

"Liar!!" Delita roared, but the momentary pause had given Cyran the time to get to his feet. Cyran concentrated on the attack he knew was coming.

"Hamedo!" Delita managed to block Cyran's preemptive stroke, but he ceased his attack. "You try to massacre us, and we'll make sure all of your men know the truth before we die. See how far that gets you."

"All right." Delita grimaced. "We'll pass you by on two conditions. One, none of your men attack us. Any of my guys wind up dead, and I'll make sure they have plenty of company. Two," and now he whispered, "how in hell did you find out the truth?"

"We won't attack you." Cyran stated boldy, then he quietly said, "Ramza has the testimony of an eyewitness to the crime."

"There were no eyewitnesses." Delita had a hard time keeping it to a whisper. "I made damn sure of that."

"Uh huh. You just think about that for a while." Cyran grinned broadly.

Delita clenched his fist, but then went back to a neutral expression. He turned back to his men. "We're going to ignore this worthless rabble. Anyone who attacks won't get any help, all right? Let's move on now!" Delita turned and gestured to move forward. The Hokuten and Nanten glared at each other as they filed past, but no one broke ranks to attack.

"Why didn't you yell out the truth sir?" One of his men asked when they had passed.

"For one thing, we're not absolutely certain it is the truth... And also, letting him go gives us a chance to take Zeltennia."

"You think we can take Zeltennia with just 300 men?!" The knight was incredulous.

"Yes. Because we have three secret weapons named Orlandu, Medliadoul, and Agrias. Let's move out!" Cyran quickly packed up his gear, and then led the troops toward Zeltennia at a brisk pace.

.

Zarghidas Trade City

Orlandu continued to look out the window, keeping a silent night watch over Agrias and Meliadoul, as he had done for many days now. There was no moon tonight, which made him edgy, because it was very hard to see. On the other hand, it was very hard for anyone else to see him. He briefly wondered what Olan was doing, provided he was still alive. His thoughts quickly turned from that as he sensed another presence in the room. It hadn't been there a few seconds ago, he was sure of it. But someone was there now. He slowly moved his hand down to the hilt of Ragnarok.

"Don't bother old man. It's already too late." Orlandu hurried to perform a Holy Explosion in the direction of the voice, but he just couldn't gather the energy fast enough. A huge blast of dragonfire roared through the ceiling, smashing him through the wall to the outside. Agrias and Meliadoul jumped up, grabbing their swords. But they weren't wearing any armor, which made them very cautious. In the light of the blazing fire now raging around them, they saw a woman who looked like a Divine Knight, except for a dark cloth across her face. "It's also too late for you, Miss Oaks." Agrias immediately responded by gathering energy into her sword. Lightning stabbed down into the stranger, but she seemed to emerge unscathed. She whispered a few words, and Agrias suddenly turned into stone. Meliadoul began to circle warily. "And you Miss Tingel. You have one last chance to redeem yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Meliadoul demanded.

"Velius is going to need help if he is to summon Lucavi back to this plane. As a daughter of Vormav, you're a natural choice, now that he's gone himself."

Meliadoul gasped, then a look of hatred appeared on her face. "We finished your kind! I helped Ramza kill Hashmalum myself! If I wouldn't help my own father, why on earth would I help you?"

"Because, humans tend to do things they normally wouldn't do, if it's a choice between that or death." Her right hand began to glow.

"Then, like Izlude, I choose death!" Meliadoul shouted in response. Her sword began to glow as well. "Icewolf Bite!" The jagged point of energy that always signified the spell immediately appeared, but seemed to have no effect on the mage.

"Very well. Your help would be nice, but it's not a necessity." She raised her glowing hand above her head. Then, suddenly, Orlandu stood behind her, Ragnarok glowing with the energy of Night Sword. The spell threw her into a still burning wall, besides greatly draining her energy. Orlandu followed that with a simple sword stroke that also seemed to do a lot of damage.

"It appears I've underestimated you, T.G. Cid." She breathed heavily. "I won't do that again." With that, she raised her arms and teleported away.

.

Northeastern Fuse Plains, just south of Zeltennia

It was very cold out on the plains. As Ramza turned away from the small fire in front of him to look out across the land, he realized it wasn't flat, but already starting to slope up into the mountains that divided this area from Zeltennia. He inched closer to the fire he had just restarted. It was the dead of night, but his dreams were disturbed, as usual. He heard rustling in the grass behind him. He reached for the Masamune, but stopped as the light of the fire revealed Zalbag standing there. "Can't sleep?" He asked the obvious.

"No. But why are you up?" Ramza replied.

"I can't sleep either, and that's unusual for me." Zalbag sat down next to the fire, a few feet away from Ramza. "I have a gut feeling that something is wrong."

"That Delita tried to kill Ovelia, or that Velius seems to be back in action?" Ramza flicked a pebble in the dirt, and watched it land in the fire, sending up a few sparks.

"Something else..." Zalbag got a distant look in his eyes. "Something connected with Balbanes, I think. I was looking for him even when transformed by the Leo stone. I think for another reason besides that he's my son. Or maybe that's it, but there's an aspect I'm not seeing."

"I can't help you there." Ramza sighed. "I'm not good at this sort of thing. I remember when Mustadio, Agrias, and I were taking Ovelia to Lionel. On the way there, we stopped for a routine break. I went to talk to Ovelia and Agrias, but somehow I stopped before I quite got to them. I heard Ovelia talking about how sad she was that people were dying because of her, and that she had thought her loneliness was worth it if it kept the peace, but now she wondered what it was all for. I didn't have any idea of whatI could say that would make her feel better. Then, she dropped all that talk, and remembered that Alma had shown her how to make a reed flute. She tried to make one, but couldn't get it right. Immediately, I knew the solution. And now I realize that's how I operate all the time. There's a lot of stuff that's just beyond my ability to solve. If the whole mess with Ajora hadn't just boiled down to me killing everyone in sight, I wouldn't have been able to stop it. In fact, if it wasn't for Alma, I still wouldn't have been able to."

Zalbag shrugged. "So you're a simple man. That's nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you realize it. Are you worried that the problem with Delita is beyond your ability to solve?"

"Yes." He didn't even stop to think about it. "I was really mad at first, but I've been thinking, and I realize I only know one side of the story. Deep down, Ovelia still loves him and is supportive of him, and I figure there has to be some reason for that. If there's any trace of the Delita I once knew in there, I know he wouldn't have just killed her in cold blood."

Zalbag sighed. "You know him a lot better than I do, so it's your call. Although it might be Ovelia's in the end."

Ramza felt tired from the slightly abstract thoughts, but he didn't want to go back to sleep. The dreams would just be waiting for him again. He tried thinking about something more concrete. "I'm glad Delita didn't move to Lesalia immediately when he took over. It would be hell getting in there. Zeltennia should be relatively easy, tactically."

Zalbag nodded. He stared at the fire for a minute, before turning to Ramza again. "Say, I have to apologize to you for what I said at Lesalia way back when. You were totally right about Dycedarg, but I refused to believe it simply because he was my full brother, and you only my half. What I said about bad blood is totally wrong. If anything, your blood is better than mine is."

Ramza was pleased with the compliment, but didn't understand where it was coming from. "Thanks, but how do you figure that? Your mother was a noblewoman. Mine was just a common girl."

"I've become increasingly aware that the status of a person isn't important. Father and my mother got married when they were both very young. It was an arranged, political marriage. I don't think they even knew much about each other before the wedding. I think that my mother wasn't ready to be a mother that soon in her life." He remained silent for a moment. "But after my mother died, father's political obligations were over. No one pressured him to get married again. Your mother was a commoner, yes, and if anything, she was even younger when she got married than my mother had been. But that didn't seem to matter to anyone. Father married your mother because he really loved her, and that was his only motivation. Also, by that time, he really seemed to know his place in the world, and what his purpose was, so your mother had a much easier time with him. He made sure she was always happy. All in all, I'm sure she'd still be around today if the plague hadn't taken her."

"I never even bothered to think about it like that." Ramza frowned.

"Yeah, well. I had a lot of time to reflect before I worked up the courage to face Hashmalum and get control of the Leo stone."

They sat for a minute, and Zalbag noticed Ramza's head begin to nod, then jerk roughly back up. "You're really tired, aren't you? Why are you trying to stay awake?"

"The dreams always end up waking me in the end." He said, then yawned. "Why bother to even try sleeping peacefully?"

"So do something to get rid of them." Zalbag told him.

"Like what?" Ramza yawned again.

"Don't isolate yourself. Sleep next to Rafa." Ramza almost turned to glare at him, until he realized Zalbag had said "next to."

"How would that help?"

Zalbag shrugged. "I don't know, but I've found from experience that nothing calms your fears like close proximity to a woman. Doesn't calm other things, but I'm sure you have enough self control to handle it."

Ramza laid down in the dirt. "I'll keep that in mind, but not tonight."

"Then when? We could all be dead tomorrow, and then you'd have missed out." Ramza simply ignored that one.

"I wish Ovelia was awake. She almost seems to understand what I'm feeling."

Zalbag stood up. "Well don't disturb her." He doubted he needed to warn him. Ramza already has his eyes closed. "She actually seems to be sleeping peacefully tonight."

.

The knife. Everything in Ovelia's world revolved around the knife. "I'll make your life shine." Sure, that shine was the glint of a dagger. "I'll make you into a real monarch." Only so you could be too. Only so he could kill who he wanted, whenever he wanted. "I'll never turn on you." Well sure, that was technically true, when he said it in the future tense, because he already had, even way back then.

The embrace at the church yard. The subsequent further embraces, even the ones that had ended with them pressing their naked bodies together, away from prying eyes, had those meant nothing, to either of them? It seemed not.

Ramza was alive. What had she attacked him for? Was he really just using her? Then, it hit her, surprisingly hard for dream reflections: What had SHE attacked HIM for? She could still picture the knife, glinting in the sunlight, then the sudden pain as it stabbed deep into her. But it was not the knife of cold murder. It was the knife she had given him, because she had been unable to kill him. Why had she been so weak, both mentally and physically? He should be dead. But why should he be? Was he really using her? She watched the knife piercing her skin again, watched it a thousand times. Ramza was alive. Delita was alive. She was alive. What was it all for?

.

"You find that strange?"

"No..." - Delita Hyral and Ramza Beoulve


	7. Velius

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 7**

**Velius**

By Nanaki

Zeltennia

"Zeltennia Castle, dead ahead." Whitman called from where he was on point.

"All right people!" Ramza bellowed. "This is it, as far as Delita is concerned! Ovelia, make sure you're well covered up. You're our greatest weapon, as far as the general populace goes, but I want the element of surprise. I'm almost sure they know we're coming, but they may not know about our other factions. Rad, Whitman, go scout around for Cyran's men and T.G. Cid, respectively." Suddenly, a giant explosion appeared right next to the castle. It appeared tiny, near as it was to the horizon, but Ramza could tell that it was quite large. "Vincent, was that a Flare?" Vincent nodded. "Never mind, I think we've found them. Everyone, ready your weapons, because now we must fight! Eeaaaggghhhh!!"

"Eeaaaggghhhh!!" Came the answering cry. As he began to run forward, Ramza smiled.

.

"It appears Cyran arrived here ahead of us." Orlandu observed from just inside a small grove of trees. A fair part of the castle had just been blown away, and the resident Nanten knights were pouring out the main gate.

"What are they doing? Only fools attack head on!" Agrias said, then grimaced when she realized where she had picked that piece of information up.

"On the contrary, this appears to be a very wise move." Orlandu continued to monitor the situation calmly.

"How so?" Meliadoul immediately asked. "Agrias is right. They really are attacking straight on, which won't get them inside very fast."

"They don't need to get inside. They only need to keep the enemy distracted long enough for Ramza to get in another way." He continued to stand there, unaffected by the battle raging in front of him.

"Okay, but then how are we supposed to get in?" Meliadoul asked him.

Orlandu watched the plain to the east of the castle. Nothing happened for a few minutes, but then he saw a spear thrown up into the air. It arced slowly back toward the ground, and did not appear again. That was Rad's signal. It was time to go. "We're going to walk straight from here, right into the castle." Orlandu finally answered her question.

"You can't be serious." She immediately responded.

"Just watch me." Orlandu grinned as he very rarely did, then stepped forward, away from the grove.

.

"I must say, Cyran is certainly doing a good job keeping the Nanten occupied." Ramza found a handhold in the castle wall, gripped it tightly, then pulled his Oberisk out of where it was wedged in. He jabbed it back into the wall above his head, then pulled himself up. From his occassional glances below, he could see Rafa was fairly impressed. He should really be concentrating on the battle, he realized, but he had fought so many battles he didn't exactly feel it was necessary to do so. Vincent, not exactly feeling up to punching holes in the wall to climb up, procured a grappling rope from somewhere. He tossed it up to Ramza, who threw it the rest of the way to the top. Zalbag hefted Balbanes up so the boy's arms were around his neck, and got ready to climb. The grapple held, and they all hurried up the side, although Ovelia needed some help getting up the rope, until they were standing on the rampart. "C'mon." Ramza motioned toward the inside. "I heard Orlandu talk about this place often enough to know where we're going."

Zalbag quickly scanned around, and saw no guards. He walked down the parapet a little way, and found an odd sheltered alcove. "Balbanes, you stay right here until I come back to get you. Understand?" The boy nodded solemnly in return.

"Where exactly are we going?" Rad asked.

"Tyrants tend to hang out in their throne rooms." Ramza said over his shoulder as he started to sprint in that direction. The group ran down the halls, following Ramza closely, encountering absolutely no enemy resistance. Either Cyran had really put up a fierce attack, or, and Ramza began to think this was more and more likely, it was a trap. If it was, he would just fight his way out. Then, suddenly, the running stopped as he burst through the throne room doors. Both he and Zalbag gasped at what they saw.

"Well Ramza, you're a little later than I expected, but that's all right. After all, I'm one with the time god." Rofel grinned at them in a crooked way.

"You know, I never understood what advantage that gave you, if any." Ramza kept his face expressionless.

"That doesn't matter." Then he noticed Zalbag. "And I see you brought one of the Zodiac Braves' old friends with you."

"How in hell did you get out of Murond?" Ramza demanded.

"I should ask the same of you. Altima seemed to be gracious in defeat, is my guess. But that is irrelevant. What matters is that I'm alive to take my revenge on you."

Ramza forced his temper down. Despite this surprise, he had all the advantages this time. He still would rather not battle Rofel, if it could be avoided. "Why do you want revenge on us? It's Delita you should be concerned about."

Rofel laughed. "If Delita didn't still have so much morality, he would be perfect for our cause. Why would I worry about him?"

"He used you! He used all of us! He used Vormav to get rid of Goltana, then he used us to kill Vormav before you all could find out. That left him in power. Pretty convenient huh?"

"Shut up!" Rofel quickly drew out his Save the Queen. "Why should I believe your lies?"

"First off, because they're not lies. Second, take a look around. You know you can't beat us." Ramza almost smiled.

"That's true enough. Alone, I can't. But I know someone who can." Rofel closed his eyes, and the stones under their feet began to rumble.

"I don't think I'm going to like this." Ramza said quietly. Then, quickly, the missing zodiac stone drifted into the room through one of the large windows. "Rad, use Holy!" He shouted.

"There's no time!" Rad shouted back. "I don't have the magic power for it!"

Then, the stone began to glow an extremely bright blue. Spirits circled around, and a giant blue explosion threw them all back, momentarily plunging the room into darkness. Ramza stood up, and when he could see again, the toughest enemy he had ever faced stood before him. "Velius." He hissed.

"It's so nice to be remembered." Velius grinned a demonic grin.

"You can't beat us Velius." Ramza found it hard to maintain his composure. "The body you're using now isn't as strong as the one you had last time."

"Maybe it's not." He hissed evilly. Then, he seemed to become a blue blur, that charged right up to them in under a second. He charged right on by, yanking Zalbag off his feet and slamming him into the wall. Zalbag grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. "But it's so much faster! Hashmalum isn't too happy with you Zalbag. I think I'll send you back to him right now."

"Sorry 'Berto." Ramza whispered, then plunged his Oberisk into Velius' back. Everyone jumped toward the monster at once. They all had a hard time not inflicting severe harm on each other as Velius easily jumped to the side before they could get there.

"Armor won't help the heart stay sharp! Shellbust stab!" Ramza quickly remembered that Rofel was still in the fight too, and regretted his momentary lapse as Whitman was hit hard, his armor shattering and falling useless to the ground.

"You all think you're so special." Velius snorted disdainfully. "You're not prepared to counter the abilities of one of your own. Now, pathetic humans, let me hear your screams of pain!"

"Everyone, fight them into the corner! Eeaaaggghhhh!!" Ramza and Zalbag charged forward, everyone else following right behind, except for Whitman and the two clerics. Whitman caught his breath, still wincing from the blow Rofel had given him. He noticed that Ovelia and Alma seemed to be just standing in one place, their eyes closed.

"Uh ladies? We could really use some MBarriers here." He said as politely as he could bear to.

Whitman ducked as Rad went flying through the air over him, landing in a heap after crashing into the wall. Alma opened her eyes slightly. "Do not interfere. Velius is simply too fast. You can't beat him unless we do this. Now go distract him, and keep him busy!" Whitman had no idea what Alma was planning, but he hurried to follow her orders.

As he rushed back toward the fray, he was glad to see Rafa nail Rofel with an Asura. Rofel held up his sword to try to block the attack, and to his surprise, the Save the Queen broke into several pieces, and the force of the energy threw him into the wall, knocking him out. Rafa seemed surprised too. Seeing this, Velius dodged all attacks coming at him with apparent ease, and hefted Rafa up with his two lower arms. He punched her with his upper arms, and gave her a massive headbutt at the same time. He let her crumple to the floor, where blood trickled out of her head. "You bastard!!" Ramza and Malak both roared, and charged at him with no caution at all. Laughing, Velius jumped over them as they lunged at him, then nailed Malak with a kick in the back on his way down. Ramza whirled around and thrust his Oberisk at Velius. Velius actually managed to grab the spear in mid thrust. When Ramza grimly refused to let go, he swung the spear around in midair, Ramza along with it, and then let it go flying back into the rest of Ramza's troops.

Before they could even begin to recover, a Cyclops roared into their midst, jagged shards of energy smashing into everyone. From her far corner, Alma struggled to shut out the screams. She was almost there...

Even now, Velius had only been struck once. He was obviously enjoying himself. As the warriors were sprawled on the ground, he turned to Ovelia and Alma. He ignored Alma at the moment. "You know, both Hashmalum and Vormav are very angry at Delita." Both ladies would have loved to have pointed out that Rofel was working with Delita, but they couldn't break their concentration. He began to step toward them. "I think killing Delita's wife might appease his anger a little." Suddenly, Ovelia opened her eyes.

"You're too late." She half grinned, giving several meanings to the sentence.

"Your time is up, devil." Alma nodded. Suddenly, a harsh red light fell on Velius. He looked up in surprise. Wavy red lines coursed into his body, and his image seemed to blur. In a moment, he was just a red outline. In another moment, a second, smaller outline appeared next to his. A second later they, both solidified. Velius looked himself over quickly. It seemed that no change had taken place.

Then, a new voice spoke up. "Well, it looks like I get a chance to kill you after all."

Velius turned in surprise. "Well, well. If it isn't the body that failed me last time. Make yourself useful Wiegraf, and go wake Rofel up."

"I would Velius, except for one thing."

"And what might that be?" Despite Wiegraf's attitude, Velius didn't really feel like killing him. Wiegraf had been a good host body. Perhaps he could be again.

"I can't believe you made me say it: 'I don't give a damn about Miluda's murder.' For that, you're going straight back to Hell." Wiegraf took a step back, then to Velius' extreme surprise, drew out a Ragnarok sword with blinding speed. "Heaven's wish to destroy all minds... Holy Explosion!" The giant beam of holy light engulfed Velius, and he staggered back. Wiegraf quickly launched himself at the monster in a frenzy, giving no thought to self preservation. Velius grappled with Wiegraf for a minute, before finally managed to get a good hold on him. He pulled back his top right fist for a massive punch.

Then suddenly, his arm was gone. He whirled to find Whitman standing there, grasping his Kiyomori in both hands. Wiegraf used this opportunity to swing down at Velius' head. The giant ram turned at the last minute, but one of his horns was cut off and the blade passed deep into his shoulder. He quickly dropped Wiegraf. "Trying to win by strength of numbers again? Let's see if I can fix that. Come out, my loyal servants!" Velius closed his eyes for just a second, and six Archaic demons appeared. They formed a protective circle around him, and a few Giga Flares convinced Wiegraf to back off a little.

But all that commotion had bought everyone time to get back on their feet, with the exception of Rafa. Ramza charged forward once more, his Oberisk ready to strike. Velius just glared at him. Then, six Dark Holies activated at once. Ramza found himself standing with only Wiegraf and Whitman with him. Even Ramza didn't relish the thought of taking on six Archaic demons at once, and Wiegraf realized that he might actually need a strategy now. They began to back away. "What's the matter gentlemen? You're not giving up the fight, are you?" Velius began to concentrate again, paying no heed to his missing arm, while the demons started to swarm forward.

"I think we're in trouble." Whitman uttered the understatement of the year. He glanced over at Ovelia and Alma. They needed MBarriers bad if they were to have any hope of winning, but the two ladies were just concentrating again.

Then, as the demons charged, another voice filled the room. "Galaxy Stop!" Bright lights flashed all over, and the demons froze in place. Ramza whirled around, hardly daring to hope this was really true. Indeed, Olan Durai stood in the doorway, flanked by two Hokuten knights. Velius didn't quite seem to realize what had happened. Wiegraf turned to Ramza.

"So, can you honestly say you don't feel insecure now, with any confidence?"

"Yes!" Ramza shouted. Velius continued to concentrate. Ramza made a slight gesture, and he, Wiegraf, and Whitman charged forward. He grinned as Velius just stood there stupidly. A split second before their weapons connected, Velius' three remaining arms jerked out, grabbed all of them by the neck, and smashed their heads together violently.

"Fools." He spat contemptuously. "How stupid do you have to be to be fooled by a simple ruse like that?"

"How stupid do you have to be to underestimate your opponent?" Olan responded. Gazing around the room, his eyes widened as he noticed one of the two ladies still standing. "Ovelia?!" He whirled on Velius. "What kind of foul magic is this, devil?"

"It's no magic." Velius actually shrugged. "Keep in mind, I've been out of the loop for a while."

Olan turned to the two knights beside him. "See to the wounded. I want to take care of this myself."

"Your pitiful Galaxy Stop can't touch me." Velius sneered.

"You're a fool devil." Olan tossed aside the book he carried. To Velius' immense surprise, he also tossed aside his protective mantle. Sure, he could move a little more freely, but that didn't make up for the defense he had lost with it. "It's my fault Delita has gotten to where he is today. I didn't have the courage to face him alone. But I've had plenty of time to think about this. I'd rather face the whole world alone and die now than live my life being afraid! The hour of your destruction has arrived!" Despite his forcefulness, Olan's voice remained relatively composed. Suddenly, he took a fighting stance, despite his lack of a weapon. His muscles tightened, and his body began to shake slightly. Then, his hands began emitting an orange glow as he continued to stand there.

Velius had never seen anything quite like this before. Since Olan didn't immediately act, he streetched his three arms out, and a healing light fell over him. He felt relief as his missing arm and horn reattached, because he was sure he wasn't going to like whatever Olan was up to. Then, the glow from Olan's hands raced along his body and down to his feet. He charged forward incredibly fast, his bare fist stretched outward. Velius grinned and jumped out of the way, but felt Olan's fist impact on his bottom right shoulder. Many bones snapped, and the shoulder blade practically disintegrated. Velius flew through the air for a few feet, before landing hard. He sat there for a moment, stunned. Roberto's ninja skills hadn't been enough to save him from that. He couldn't believe it. He had thought that no one was faster than Roberto. Olan ran at him again. This time, Velius intercepted his flying fist, grabbed on hard, and flipped Olan over his shoulder, smashing him into the ground. He continued to squeeze Olan's fist, listening for the sound of bones snapping.

Instead, the orange glow returned, and shot up Velius' arm. He yelled in pain, but found he could not let go. Olan reached back with his other arm, and planted and exruciating punch right in Velius' gut. The Zodiac Demon actually doubled over. Olan jumped and kicked him in the head, all the while mainting contact with Velius' arm. He used the momentum started by the kick to grab the monster's arm with both hands, and then flip him into the wall, finally letting go. Velius sat leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. Olan charged up and delivered three roundhouse kicks to his chest before he could do anything. Velius roared in frustration, striking up with a desperate kick that actually connected, sending Olan flying back several paces. He dimly heard Alma shout. "Now Ovelia!!"

Intense beams of wavy red light descended on Velius. He roared again, but could not seem to move. Slowly but surely, another outline was forming, lying on the floor in front of him. It solidified into the heavily wounded form of Roberto, and the red light stopped. Velius found that he was still there, and he could move again. He quickly reached down toward Roberto. As his arm passed through the young man without any resistance, he noticed that he was completely transparent. He cursed, but at the same time, thought of a way to use this to his advantage.

Seeing he was still there, although now more of a ghost-like apparition, Olan charged at him again. He was extremely dismayed to see this tactic wouldn't work, as he rushed through him and barely avoided smashing his skull on the thick castle wall. Velius began to laugh. He closed his eyes and folded his arms, and continued to chuckle softly as all of Olan's attempts to harm him were in vain. Soon, his eyes opened, and a Cyclops burst onto the scene, showering Olan with jagged, glowing shards of energy from all directions. Olan sank to his knees. "Velius." The ghost-like monster whirled around, to find Wiegraf standing behind him, Rad leaning heavily on him. "Rad here had a very interesting theory that I'm willing to try out on you." He quickly drew his Ragnarok again. "Heaven's wish to destroy all minds..." In a quick burst of inspiration, and not knowing what else to do, Velius charged forward blindingly fast, the one solid piece within him, the Aries stone, hit Wiegraf on the head, knocking him out before he could complete his incantation.

"Holy Explosion!!"

"What?!" Velius whirled around, too late, to find Orlandu in the doorway, his Ragnarok crackling with energy. The pillar of holy energy encased him, and Velius vanished, the archaic demons disappearing as well. The Aries stone clattered noisily to the floor, temporarily drained of all light. Olan stood up, breathing heavily.

"Father, you're just in time." He smiled softly.

"No Olan, I was too late. It's you that everyone here must thank." Orlandu stepped into the throne room, and Agrias, Meliadoul, Cyran, and a whole host of tired looking Hokuten Knights stepped inside as well.

"Man, it's lucky Delita took the Black Sheep Knights with him or... ..what the hell happened here?!" Cyran demanded, quickly surveying everyone's unconcious form. They all stood quietly, as Alma, Ovelia, and several Hokuten chemists moved around the room, tending to the wounded. Ramza slowly began to stir. He sat up, rubbing his head.

"I can't believe it. I couldn't beat him. He was too fast." Ramza's eyes opened fully, and he whirled around, scanning the room. "He was too fast. Roberto!" He quickly spotted Roberto, and ran over to him, even as his head reeled. "Alma, Ovelia, over here!"

As the two women hurried to tend his wounds, the cry ran through the ranks of assembled knights. "Ovelia?!"

Now Roberto was stirring, and Ramza motioned for them to be quiet. Vincent took off his mantle, and placed it under Roberto's head. Roberto wearily opened some very tired looking eyes. "Hey soldier, how are you feeling?" Ramza asked quietly. Roberto immediately tried to sit up. Ramza held him down. "Whoah, what's your hurry?"

"Have to... 'pologize... to Rafa." He gasped tiredly. "Velius... made me say, made me think..."

"I know the feeling." Wiegraf commented quietly from the background.

"Everyone, I know we have a lot of things to sort out." Cyran broke in. "But we didn't win out there. We have a temporary cease fire going, and the one thing that will end the fighting is you, Ovelia. There are thousands of angry Nanten out there, and you're the one thing that will assure them that their loyalty to Delita is misplaced. Will you come with me please?"

Ovelia looked around. No one realized it, but she was very reluctant to do this. She quickly took in the number of Hokuten already in the room. If she refused, ramza wouldn't be able to protect her. "I suppose I really don't have a choice, do I?" She asked softly.

Cyran sighed. "No, you really don't."

.

"Whoah! They're only humans!" - Velius

.

(Nanaki's note: You can thank Dragon Ball Z for the kickass fight in this chapter. After I'd seen a few episodes in the fall of 1998, I realized that I'd been writing the action scenes in this story as if they were actually happening in the game. In other words, pretty crappily. Giving Olan his best entrance ever was just icing on the cake.)


	8. Worries of Ovelia

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 8**

**Worries of Ovelia**

By Nanaki

Zeltennia Castle

Agrias, Orlandu, Meliadoul, and all the Hokuten followed Cyran and Ovelia out. Roberto quickly fell back asleep on the soft feather mantle. Ramza stood, still breathing hard, not yet quite sure how to thank Olan. Behind him, he heard the scrape of metal against stone, and turned to see Wiegraf picking his Ragnarok off the floor. Ramza tensed a little. Wiegraf began to twirl the blade in his hands. "Well, it looks like I've finally stumbled across Miluda's murderer." Everyone in the room tensed. "And it's me." Wiegraf quickly frowned and sheathed the blade.

"Wiegraf, it certainly wasn't your fault." Ramza broke into his thoughts.

"I didn't realize it until Alma brought me back from Hades, but it is my fault. I was so much older than her, she idolized me. She would have done anything I asked. So when I asked for her help in the Death Corps, of course she gave it." He closed his eyes for a moment. "She took up my fanatacism for our cause, but not all of my reasoning. She was even more of a fanatic than I was, and didn't know when to give it up and strategically withdraw. All my talk of fighting to the end, and never giving up, made her do just that. I know you a little Ramza, and you wouldn't have killed her if you had a choice. I knew her better, and I know she wouldn't have given you a choice."

Ramza nodded slowly. "I told her I didn't want to fight her, and I asked her what the problem was, if it was really my fault. She said it wasn't my fault, but she'd keep blaming me until there was a solution."

"Stubborn until the end." Wiegraf had a distant look in his eyes. He turned and walked out of the throne room.

"Where are you going?" Ramza called after him.

"It looks like I'm going nowhere." His voice responded.

Ramza now turned to Olan. "You saved us all, Olan. We owe everything to you. He was too fast for us." Olan remained silent, but nodded, allowing a slight grin to form on his lips. "Where did you get those skills?"

"I've had plenty of time to train while Delita's held me here. If an opportune moment ever came for me to stand up to him, I wanted to be ready. I'd had one chance before, but I was too weak to take it. And apparently, Ovelia almost died because of that." He looked regretfully down at his clenched fist. "But I'm getting off track. Anyway, there's an old Ordalian Holy Monk still trapped in the prison here. I managed to learn a lot from him. When Delita left, he had me "sequestered" in the prison "for my safety." I got thrown in with those two Hokuten Knights, and we finally managed to break out when Cyran's attack came. I ran up here to try to take out that man," he pointed at where Rofel still lay unconcious, "but ended up battling Velius instead."

"That settles that part of the puzzle." Ramza nodded. "Now, how did Orlandu and the others get inside for their timely rescue?"

One of the Hokuten Knights stepped forward. "It was amazing sir. Orlandu walked right into the heart of the battle, and none of the Nanten would lift a finger to stop him. The fighting stopped wherever he walked, until we had a momentary cease fire, and he headed right up to the throne room."

"That makes sense." Ramza nodded. "No one would want to go against T.G. Cid, even if they did have hundreds of other men at their back. Now," he turned to Alma, "how the hell did you two get Wiegraf instead of Roberto? How did Velius take Roberto against his will?"

"I have a hunch." Zalbag broke in, rubbing a large slice on his arm. "I'm guessing they both wanted revenge really, really bad. Velius' emotions were enough so that he put out the tremendous effort required to guide the Aries stone, like I did with the Leo stone. And Wiegraf wanted to teach Velius a lesson so badly that he put himself ahead of Roberto. I have no idea how. I'm not sure why he didn't battle Velius in Hades anyway."

"I don't think anyone's going to do better than that." Ramza shrugged. "All right, does anyone have any idea why Rofel would be here?" They all remained silent. "This is not good. Zalbag, are you sure Vormav is still in Hades?"

"Definitely." Zalbag nodded. "Hashmalum would appear here before he did anyway, and I've got his stone."

Suddenly, they heard a small voice shouting in the hall as it grew nearer. "Lousy, stealing, thiefing, Death Corps...!" Wiegraf came back into the room, his right leg dragging behind him.

"Does this belong to one of you?" He asked Ramza and Zalbag. Balbanes was hanging on his leg, furiously pounding on his armor, to no avail. "It appears someone's told him a little bit about me."

"Balbanes!" Zalbag exclaimed. "I'd forgotten about him during the battle."

"You forgot about your own kid?" Wiegraf asked scornfully. He hefted Balbanes up by the collar, pretending to be wary of his swinging fists. "Look kid, the Death Corps ended a long time ago, years before you were born. I'd advise you to forget about it." He walked over to the two Beoulves and started to hand Balbanes over to Zalbag, but, as if he still couldn't quite stand to help Zalbag out in any possible way, he heaved the squirming kid at Ramza instead.

Ramza put him down, and he ran over to Zalbag, latching himself onto his father. "I haven't exactly been around him that much." Zalbag said to Wiegraf. "Although why I'm defending my parenting to you of all people is beyond me at the moment."

"Well everyone," Ramza brought all attention in the room back to him, "despite this huge mess of stuff to sort out, we emerged victorious today, thanks to Olan. I'm sure the Nanten outside will come around once they see Ovelia is the real thing. We're done battling for now. All of you go enjoy yourselves." Most of the mass of people in the room headed for the doors. Ramza smiled as he heard Whitman and Rad asking each other if they had been concious for certain parts of the battle. After having come so close to defeat, he wondered how they could still be so casual about it.

Soon, Ramza and Alma were the only concious ones left in the throne room. Everyone else had been too curious about what was happening with Ovelia. Alma slowly walked up to Ramza, then leaned against him. "That was tough, and he never even laid a hand on me."

"I know. I'm sure wielding that magic was a challenge in itself though. How's Roberto?"

"Amazingly, it looks like he's going to be just fine. He's just exhausted right now, and I can't really blame him. All the wounds Velius received manifested in him as well, and he was probably struggling constantly to regain control of himself."

"That's very good." Ramza almost began to smile, until Alma said,

"Now, about Rafa."

His insides froze. "What about Rafa?"

"You know how Velius gave her a nice, huge headbutt?"

"Well yes, but he smashed me in the head too, and I feel okay now."

"Yes, but Wiegraf and Whitman don't have huge ramming horns. I hate to say this, but she's not looking too good..."

.

Cyran quickly walked out of what remained of the castle gate, and stepped up to a platform that had been very hastily erected by some of the Nanten. He spread his arms wide. "Nanten warriors!" A respectful silence quickly fell over the crowd. "Years ago, the Hokuten and Nanten fought as one force against the oppressive hordes of Ordalia. I sincerely hope we can fight as one force against a new injustice, for the good of all Ivalice!" There were skeptical murmurings, but otherwise, the Nanten remained attentive. "Now, as to why I'm saying this, you have all been deceived. You have been told that your Queen, Ovelia Atkascha, passed away from injuries sustained during a riding accident on her twenty first birthday. Even though she normally rides with at least two servants, somehow, no one was a witness to the accident." Cyran paused for dramatic effect. He hadn't been leading the Hokuten for over a year now without developing his speaking skills. "The truth is that Ovelia wasn't in any riding accident. The injuries she sustained were a result of a knife wielded by your "great" King, Delita Hyral!!"

Immediately, the assembled ranks of knights broke into chaotic shouting. Cyran's men surrounded him, but the Nanten did not attack. After a few moments, the unruly mob returned to a quiet crowd, one man shouting, "Where is your proof?!"

"You want proof?" Cyran tilted his head back and laughed. "Here's your proof!" He gestured toward the castle gate. Ovelia timidly stepped through the charred pieces of wood, and made her way up to the podium. Disturbed murmers ran through the ranks. Ovelia held up her hands for silence.

"Gentlemen, let me assure you that I am the real Ovelia Atkascha. You can interview me as much as is necessary to convince yourselves. The truth is that Delita did try to kill me on my birthday. He thought he succeeded, which is why he announced my death to the public. But in fact, I managed heal my wounds to a reasonable degree, and escape." Ovelia stepped back, and turned to Cyran. "The rest is up to you." She whispered.

"You see?" Cyran stepped forward again. "She can still hardly talk about it. The King is a traitor."

One Nanten stepped forward from the rest. "With all due respect majesty," he was warily respectful of Ovelia, "what possible motive could he have for doing such a thing?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Cyran shouted. "He never cared for her! All along, his only goal was to take the throne. Once he no longer needed Queen Ovelia to help him achieve that, he decided to get rid of her!"

"No..." Ovelia weakly protested. "It wasn't like that." 'He still loves me...' A tear came to her eye, but the horde of knights was already making far too much noise to hear her.

"The King is nothing but a murdering traitor!" Cyran seemed to be entering a spittle inducing frenzy. "If this isn't ample evidence, just ask Olan Durai, son of your illustrious T.G. Cid, for some examples of his behavior! Down with the traitor!!"

"Traitor! Traitor!!" The cry began running through the crowd. "Kill the traitor!!"

"No! Stop!" Ovelia protested futilely.

All at once, the crowd spotted Orlandu standing on the battlements above Cyran, and the cried rang out. "Mighty Count Orlandu, lead us into battle against the traitor!!"

Orlandu scratched his beard thoughtfully, then held up his arms for quiet. "My worthy Nanten allies!" He cried formally. "It will be my honor to lead you into battle against the forces of this monster! Not even the Lesalian army can stand against the might of the Nanten and Hokuten combined! We will crush the pitiful fool who has deluded himself into thinking he is the rightful ruler of our kingdom." He lowered his hands. Both the Nanten and Hokuten erupted into cheers.

"Kill the murderer!! Kill the traitor!!"

.

"I should have known I'd find you here, after I heard what Whitman told me had been happening." Cyran said quietly as he entered the softly lit room where Rafa was laying in a large bed, her head covered in bandages. Ramza and Malak were seated in stiff chairs just to the side. Ramza got up and slowly stretched.

"I heard the cries quite clearly. It looks as though they believed you."

"Well, with Orlandu confirming our evidence, I don't think very many doubted us."

"Good work. Zalbag will be happy to hear this."

"Aren't you?" Cyran looked at him with surprise.

"I'm not sure. I doubt hearing at least twenty thousand Nanten shout 'Kill the traitor!!' was exactly what Ovelia needed right now."

"I thought you wanted to kill Delita." Cyran was puzzled.

"He was my best friend!" Ramza whirled on him. "I am very angry with him, but I don't want to kill him if I can possibly avoid it."

Cyran realized that Ramza was most likely very upset over Rafa's current condition, and turned to leave. "We'll discuss this later." Ovelia walked in the door right as he was leaving, and gave him a dirty look. Cyran sighed and continued down the hall.

"Ramza, I want to talk to you." Ovelia walked right up to him.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

"I'm worried about Delita. I think he's going to die soon."

"After the response I heard from those Nanten, yeah." Ramza nodded slowly.

"Well, can't you do something about it?"

"What can I do against all those knights?" He gestured helplessly.

"Just tell them that YOU get to be the one to confront Delita, and no one else."

"I hope that you're aware that I may kill him as well, if what Cyran told everyone turns out to be true." He looked at her intensely. "Unless you know something I don't, that would definitely clear him."

"I..." Ovelia hesitated. "I don't, I'm afraid." Ramza nodded and sat back down.

"Do me a favor will you? Go see if Roberto's waking up yet." With that, he returned to his intense scrutiny of Rafa's unconcious form.

"All right." Ovelia sighed, then went to follow his orders.

.

"Delita may be a good person as you said..." - Olan Durai


	9. A Man With the Holy Stone

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 9**

**A Man With the Holy Stone**

By Nanaki

Zeltennia Castle

Ramza had been about to doze off. After all, he had been maintaining a constant watch for over forty hours now, and everyone else was asleep this late at night. He had been about to doze off, when Rafa began to stir. He was instantly alert, and she began to open her eyes. "W-what happened?" She asked weakly.

"Velius happened." Ramza responded calmly.

"What about Rofel?" She questioned him.

"He'll be rotting in the prison for a good while now."

"My head hurts." She complained.

"I'm not surprised." He nodded slightly. "Alma thinks you have a concussion."

"Great. I suppose this lets me out of all future battles, huh?" She looked expectantly at him, although her eyes were a little blurry.

Ramza clenched his fist, and his leather gauntlet creaked. "I was really worried about you. But, if you want to be in, then you're in. I feel better when you're around anyway."

"How long have I been out?" She lay back down in the bed again.

"Over a day and a half." Ramza replied, then yawned heavily.

She sat back up. "Have you been keeping watch this entire time?"

"Of course." He nodded. "But now that you're awake, I think I'll get up to bed."

She put a hand up to her forehead. "I'm still feeling weak. Don't leave me yet."

Ramza stretched. "Okay, but I'm going to fall asleep in the chair here."

She lay back down. "Then come share the bed with me over here."

Ramza's eyes would have widened, had he not been so tired. "Are you sure?"

"I know you can handle it." She said, already dozing off.

"Well..." Ramza stood up. "I'll give it a shot." He kicked off his boots, but left the rest of his clothes on, and climbed under the covers.

.

Doguola Pass

Roberto juggled three Spell Edges expertly while twirling his two Morning Stars. "I think I'm getting my touch back." He smiled, then turned back to Ramza. "Do you really think it was wise to separate from the main force?"

"Hey, you know how good the crew is." Ramza smiled. "Besides, we can have a ruse going this way. When the Nanten come marching into Lesalia with a mere 300 Hokuten in the middle, Delita will obviously think that they've been captured. He won't notice T.G. Cid until it's too late."

"Are you sure about that?" Zalbag walked up to him. "Delita is quite the manipulator, from what I've heard. He did manage to frame Orlandu for treachery."

"It doesn't really matter." Ramza shrugged. "The main point is for them to distract the Lesalian Army long enough for us to get inside."

"If you're sure..." Zalbag trailed off as they rounded a bend and reached the narrowest point in the pass. The crew stopped in their tracks. Standing in the middle of the stone path was the same blue mage that had shown up in Zarghidas Trade City.

"Careful Ramza..." Agrias warned. "This lady is tough."

"Oh, so this is the infamous Zarghidas Wizard?" He asked.

"That's hardly my name Ramza." The mage responded. "But you won't live long enough to care!"

"Oh ho! I wouldn't bet on that!" Ramza whipped out his Oberisk. Zalbag put a hand on his shoulder. Ramza glanced up, but he had a distant look in his eyes. Balbanes squirmed off the chocobo he was seated on, and ran up to Zalbag's side. Zalbag looked down at him.

"You feel it too Balbanes?" His eyebrows rose up in surprise. The boy nodded. "You stay with Ramza this time. I can't be sure yet." He looked back up at Ramza. "Let me handle her." He moved slowly out onto the stone isthmus, drawing his Rune Blade as he did so.

"Well, well, well." She seemed to laugh. "You're actually challenging me? Pretty brave for a dead guy."

"I'm still not sure it's you." He waved his sword warily. "But if it is, what are you doing?"

"I want to kill Ramza, of course!"

"You'll have to get in line." Zalbag almost grinned. "What's your reason?"

"It's his fault I'm not a hero! He abandoned me!" She shrieked.

"Do any of you know who she is?" Ramza whispered.

"I don't have a clue." Rad shrugged.

"You sure seemed dead for a while too." Zalbag continued to step from side to side. "You really want Ramza dead that badly?"

"I have the power to take all of them down, so I'm going to do it!" Her right hand began to glow.

"With great power comes great responsibility." Zalbag shook his head sadly. "Eeaaagghhh!!" He ran forward, bringing his sword up to strike. In a flash of light, the mage drew a sword as well, and parried his slash. She took a step back, then began to gather energy into the sword.

"Hell's wish to corrupt all souls... Demonic Explosion!!" A huge black beam of energy erupted underneath Zalbag, throwing him into the air. He landed on his feet, and continued his charge.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm a Heavenly Knight! Cast light into the bowels of Hell... Heaven Flash!!" His sword glowed with a blinding light, and a bright beam of energy shot from it, into the mage. She was thrown back, and landed hard. "You were a fool to come back."

"You're the fool around here." She said in a venomous voice. Then they both looked up as they heard galloping. A chocobo appeared at the far end of the pass, and charged toward them. It reigned in a few feet behind the mage, and Rofel stepped off.

"Oh, great." Ramza groaned.

"Sorry I'm late." Rofel grinned. "But there were a few things that needed taking care of." Ramza began to step forward. Zalbag turned and held up a hand.

"No! I can handle them myself!"

"Are you sure?" He called.

"You have no idea." Zalbag grinned, and then gripped his blade tightly. "So, do you two have the courage to take me on in a strictly sword fight?"

"You're going to try both of us by yourself?" Rofel raised an eyebrow. "You're a bit braver than I thought."

"Shut up." Zalbag said quietly, then charged forward. He brought a massive swing down on the mage, throwing her back about three feet even though she blocked, then immediately turned and swung up, rending a tear in Rofel's armor. He backed up and then quickly went in with fast, fencing strokes. Both adversaries shifted their grip to a single hand, and began fencing as well. Suddenly, Zalbag gripped his hilt tightly with both hands and swung mightily. The mage's sword was knocked back into Rofel's armor, and they fell to the ground.

"Hellcry Punch!!" Rofel shouted. The red blast descended on Zalbag, and his sword shattered. He let his arms hang loosely at his sides.

"I should have known you wouldn't fight honorably." He grimaced.

"Do I ever?" Rofel smiled, twirling his own blade.

"Uh, Zalbag, would you like a little help?" Ramza called to him.

"Don't bother." The mage shouted back. "Take two steps and he'll be dead."

"Oh, I doubt that." Zalbag tilted his head back, and, amazingly, began to laugh. "Yes, I think I can finally control it... Now that you're here..." He placed his hand to his chest, and something underneath his armor glowed brightly.

"The Leo stone!!" Rofel shouted. "Quick, stop him before he..."

But already, ghostlike spirits were erupting around Zalbag, and a a burst of energy raced across the isthmus. In Zalbag's place stood a white, humanoid lion. He clenched and unclenched his claws, then emitted a sound that was a mix between a laugh and a roar. "You have underestimated your opponent, and now will pay the price! So swears Gablazar, the Holy Lion!!" He charged forward blindingly fast, grabbing both enemies in the midsection with his claws, then violently slamming them together. The mage managed to cast Flare on Gablazar, but he seemed to shrug it off. "Holy Fist!" He shouted. His furry fist began to glow brightly, then beams of white energy shot out, carrying Rofel and the mage with them.

Gablazar ran after them, raising his claws and tearing into them again. When he was finished with that mauling, he impaled them on his claws, lifted them up, then threw them over the edge of the isthmus. They fell for a ways, before disappearing. Gablazar slowly turned and walked back toward Ramza, blood staining his fur a bright red. Ramza stood silently, watching. When Gablazar was about five feet from him, he began to glow brightly, and the form of Zalbag reappeared. "Um, would you mind telling me what's going on here?" Ramza finally spoke.

"Yes." Zalbag frowned. "Suffice to say, I've finally acquired the knowledge necessary to control my zodiac powers, but at a heavy price. The rest is none of your business."

"She did attack my men. I'd like to know who she is." Ramza protested.

"You already know, if you'd just think about it." Zalbag turned away from him. "This is no one's business by Balbanes' and I."

"Okay then." Ramza frowned. "But then you'll be the one in charge of defeating her."

"Oh, I will." Zalbag clenched his fist. "Believe me, I will."

.

"That's a problem." - Dycedarg Beoulve


	10. Those Who Squirm in the Darkness

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 10**

**Those Who Squirm in the Darkness**

By Nanaki

Lesalia, Imperial Capital of Ivalice

Delita sat stone faced on the huge imperial throne, despite the fact that this messenger was bringing great news. "My Lord, your Nanten have captured at least 300 Hokuten Knights near Zeltennia, including the current leader of the Hokuten, Cyran Bolivar."

Delita scratched his beardless chin. "I don't recall giving the Nanten any such orders."

The messenger gulped nervously. "They said that the Hokuten had been causing trouble in the vicinity."

"So why would they bring them here?" Delita glared at him.

"That, I don't know." The messenger shrugged. Delita quickly got off the throne and walked out to the large parapet on the top of the central keep. He viewed the city around the castle.

"We're completely surrounded by them." He stared intently at the assembled knights, then emitted a quiet exclamation. "Ah ha! Orlandu, you shouldn't have come. You gave them away." He turned to the messenger, grinning. "Spread word to the Lesalian Army inside the castle. We're going to strike first. I'm willing to bet that as soon as we're seen charging, Cyran will suddenly be free as a bird." The messenger looked very bewildered, but ran to follow orders.

.

"Delita doesn't seem to be in any hurry to let us in." Cyran complained, pretending to struggle against his unlocked shackles.

"He's probably suspicious." The Nanten captain next to him replied. "It doesn't really matter. Actually getting inside the Palace would have been nice, but it's certainly not necessary for our victory."

"That's true." Cyran nodded. "As long as we have the element of surprise..." He trailed off as trumpets blared, and mounted Lesalian troops began pouring out the gate, charging at them.

"Everyone!" The Nanten captain shouted. "We thought they might do this! Don't fight back! Dodge them and stay calm!"

.

"Sir, they appear geniunely surprised." The Captain of the Black Sheep Knights observed from the parapet, where he and Delita were observing the soon to be battle. "Perhaps their appearances were not meant to be deceiving."

"Orlandu is with them." Delita said forcefully. "It would be impossible to capture Orlandu alive. This must be a trick."

"They're not even fighting back, just defending themselves. Sir, you must do something to change this situation." He implored.

"I intend to." Delita grinned, then whistled loudly. On the outer walls of the castle, dozens of catapults were wheeled into place. "If they are truly innocent, they will flee when they see this. Now captain, tell me what you see them doing."

"They're... they're drawing their weapons sir." Delita just smiled.

.

"What did we tell you fools?!" Cyran roared, but it was too late. At the sight of the catapults, the Nanten had whipped out their weapons and charged the castle. Cyran cursed and threw away his shackles. His commanding officer ran up.

"Sir, what do you want us to do?" He breathed excitedly.

"Well..." Cyran paused, then reached behind his back and drew out a Defender sword and an Attacker sword. He twirled one in each hand. "It looks like we get to show these Zeltennians how to fight, Hokuten style! Eeaaaggghhhh!!" Cyran pointed both swords forward, and ran toward the castle.

The catapults quickly launched their projectiles, and several men were wiped out by each one. However, the catapult operators had failed to notice Orlandu make his way to the corner of the castle. Gripping the ancient stone tightly, he scrambled up the side, and up to the parapet. On top, he quickly summoned the energy into his Ragnarok for a large Holy Explosion, and most of the war machines crumbled to splinters.

In the meantime, the Nanten and Hokuten had almost forced the Lesalian troops back inside the palace itself. Cyran had to admire the great tactical abilities of the Nanten leaders, and he was grateful for their presence. If it was not for them, he would have had to do most of this work himself. He hadn't even seen any action yet, they were doing such a good job at containing the enemy. "Hey, I think this is going to turn out just fine!" He remarked to the knights next to him.

At those words, a woman looking like a divine knight appeared, a blue cloth covering her face, hovering twenty five feet in the air. Cyran slapped himself on the head. She raised her arms, and lightning crackled from her fingertips. The battle stopped, and everyone turned to look at her. "Bring me Ramza and Zalbag, or all of you will die now." She said calmly.

"They're not with us at the moment." Cyran scowled up at her. "And don't think you can intimidate us."

"Such attitude." She scoffed. "Perhaps you will serve as a sufficient warm up."

"Bring it on witch." Cyran started to grin, eager for some action. Red flames ran up his Attacker sword. "You have no idea what my skills are like. Bring it on!!"

.

From the top of a hill just outside the walled city, Zalbag observed with cold eyes. He saw tremendous energies crashing, and figured that she must be involved. "Ramza, I can't go into the palace with you." He said absently.

"What?" Ramza was surprised. "But didn't you..." He trailed off as he too noticed the intense battle being waged next to the castle. "All right Zalbag. Are you sure you won't tell me who she is?"

Zalbag shook his head slowly. "Trust me, you'll be much happier not knowing."

"Well then, good luck brother." Ramza turned away slightly, and Zalbag ran down the hill. No one really noticed Balbanes steal away through the bushes after him.

Wiegraf stepped out from the pack also. "You know, I think I'll shadow him, in case Rofel shows up again." He ran on down the hill as well. Ramza turned to address the crew.

"You all know this is going to be tough. I have to get inside to face Delita, no matter what happens. But the rest of you, if it looks like you're going to be overwhelmed, flee or surrender. I'll get you out when this mess is over with." They all remained silent for a moment. "I know that you're all wondering what will happen if I don't make it in to confront him." Then, Ramza raised his fist into the air. "Well don't wonder, because I won't fail! I'm going to smash my way in there and give Delita what he deserves! Eeaaaggghhhh!!" Ramza quickly jumped to Boco's back, and the bird charged toward the castle.

"Eeaaaggghhhh!!" Everyone else charged after him, now confident that what he said was true. Ramza wouldn't fail. He had had difficult times, but Ramza had never completely failed in his life.

.

"Feel like begging for surrender yet?" The blue mage asked as one of her lightning bolts slammed Cyran hard into the palace wall.

"Yours, perhaps..." Cyran breathed hard as he dodged another bolt to bend down and pick up his Attacker sword from where he had dropped it. "But I'm still far from mine!" He thrust the Attacker into thin air, and a large antipodal beam of energy erupted from it, impacting into the mage, and pushing her back several feet. She stopped hovering and dropped to the ground.

"Your troops shouldn't have stopped fighting when we started." She laughed. "Now you're too late. You'll all pay the price for defying Delita!!" She simply stood there. Cyran wondered what was going on, until he saw countless soldiers pouring out of every house in Lesalia.

"This whole thing was a trap?!" Cyran demanded. "But, how did he know?"

"I know everything!" She shouted from beneath the mask. "The dark powers of Hades have granted me power beyond your puny comprehension!" With that, she threw a beam of fire at Cyran, faster than he could possibly dodge. He barely got his Defender up to block it, and the sword shattered. He backed up, waving his Attacker warily.

"Perhaps." A low voice growled. "But not beyond _my_ comprehension." Zalbag stood not far away, gripping a Rune Blade tightly in his right hand. No one moved. "For crying out loud Cyran, go storm that castle!" He shouted.

"Are you sure you'll be all right sir?" Cyran was already backing away.

"All of you go, before the Lesalians surround you!!" Zalbag shouted out to the Hokuten and Nanten. "No one else get involved in this fight, even if it looks like I'm getting killed!"

"Hold it." She held up her hand. "I've got one last present for you, Cyran!" She stretched her hand out, and a huge beam of red light impacted into Cyran. He looked surprised when nothing seemed to happen to him. "This one is so much more fun than killing you right away. That's a veritable overload of fire energy. The only way for you to get rid of enough so that it won't kill you in three years or less is to transfer at least part of it to a child of yours. Good luck having one that'll survive the process..." She tilted her head back and laughed. Cyran started toward her again.

"Go Cyran!" Zalbag shouted. "I'll get her for that one, don't worry!!" The other knights turned and redoubled their efforts to smash their way into the castle. The Lesalians were streaming up from the city, but all kept a repectful distance from Zalbag. He turned to the woman in blue. "Now, the time has come to finish this." He held the Rune Blade straight out to the side.

"Why do you insist on settling this?" She asked him sincerely. "It's Ramza I have my real problem with."

"Ramza has more pressing things to worry about than your delusions of grandeur." He said scornfully. "Prepare yourself! Heaven Flash!!"

"Demonic Explosion!!" She whipped her own sword out, and the two opposite forces of energy met in between them, throwing them both back. "I don't suffer from delusions of grandeur!" She shouted at him. "I know I'm not well known! I simply wanted to be a hero, and Ramza denied me that!!"

"Being able to kill well doesn't make you a hero!" He charged at her, using both hands to slice down wickedly with the Rune Blade. She half parried, but also jumped to the side. She spun around, slicing her sword into his back, rending a large tear in his armor. "You were a hero to me until you came back this way! Your "death" was very honorable. Why have you let these dark forces corrupt you?"

"Because, I've accepted the fact that I'll never be regarded as a hero, but at least now I'll be well known!" She lunged forward in a powerful thrust that he just barely deflected.

"You're willing to kill indiscriminately just to satisfy your own petty wish? You would have been well known once Balbanes-"

"Who?" She cut him off. Zalbag's eyes widened, and he stared at her.

"You actually don't remember?!" He stood stock still in surprise.

"No." She shrugged, then backed away. Zalbag began to advance, but then felt something behind him, and turned around. He was just in time to see Bahamut's blast of dragon fire smash into him, rolling him end over end at least three hundred feet along the ground, before he came to rest in the dirt, his armor and sword half melted. The huge dragon disappeared, and she swaggered arrogantly up to him. "You should not have challenged me. There will be no return for you this time!" Zalbag just groaned faintly in response. She raised her sword high, poised to strike.

"No!!" She felt a tugging on her leg, and looked down to see a toddler pulling on her. "No!" He shouted imperiously. "Don't hurt my father!!"

"Try again in about 14 years, you little squirt." She said calmly, then whacked the kid in the shoulder with the flat of her sword.

Balbanes went flying through the air, and landed hard on his rear end. On top of that, his shoulder had a ragged tear in it, and was starting to bleed. In spite of those factors, he did not cry. He just stared at the mage with a disbelieving look on his face. "How could you?!" He demanded angrily. "Don't you remember me?!"

"From where?!" She demanded. She caught something out of the corner of her eye, and jumped back just as Zalbag thrust up his sword, getting to his feet.

"Don't you remember anything after Ramza let you go?!" He roared in her face. He charged at her with blinding speed, deliberately aiming high. "Here, let's take this God damn mask off-!" His blade passed through the cloth covering her head, but not her flesh, and the mask tore off. "-and maybe you will!!" Her long hair spilled down her back, revealing a beautiful face with a very unfriendly expression. "Damn it Alicia, that's our son!!" He kicked her to the ground.

"He's... ..my son?" She asked in a whisper. She looked over at Balbanes, who now seemed to be in some distress over his loss of blood. "Yes, I suppose he is, isn't he?" She stared at the ground for a second, but then glared up at Balbanes. "He doesn't matter to me! He was your son! I was just your little sex toy! I wanted to be known for my own deeds, not just because I was the mother of a Beoulve! In fact, you didn't even allow the public to know that small honor!"

"We were at war! Spies and assassins were everywhere! I was a bit concerned for his safety!"

"If you considered me to be a hero, then you should have trusted me enough to protect him!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, battle ability isn't what makes a hero!!" With that, he charged at her again. She brought up her sword to parry, but his two handed slash actually broke through her sword, cutting deep into her side. Alicia screamed and sank to her knees. "Surrender now if you want to live."

"Never." She gasped through gritted teeth. "I'll never give in to you again!" Then, she stretched out her arms to the sky, but looked down at the earth. "Great Lucavi, grant me the power to return to you the one who has caused you so much grief!!" Alicia's eyes began to glow red. A dark shadow raced out of the ground behind her, obscuring her. Flashes began to come from the shadow, and bolts of lightning danced at Zalbag's feet.

"I can see you've lost all traces of your humanity." Zalbag said sadly. "Then so will I." He pulled the Leo stone out of his pocket. It flashed brightly, and the unearthly spirits again surrounded him. Soon, Gablazar stood where Zalbag had been. The shadow had become a dark, whirling vortex, with red lightining bolts spilling out the sides. It looked like the end of the world. "I will end this for good." He growled softly, then charged into the lightning filled shadow.

.

Balbanes had finally figured out that holding his hand on his shoulder helped staunch the blood flow when a gigantic explosion took place. Ribbons of black and white energy danced across the field, temporarily blinding him. When he could see again, two people were weakly holding their swords up. Zalbag limped forward, absolutely no caution in his stride. Alicia swung her sword in a wide chop, taking no defensive precautions. Zalbag's skull was split in two, and his brains splattered in the dirt. The momentum of his charge carried his sword all the way through Alicia, effectively impaling her. She collapsed to the ground.

Some morbid curiosity forced Balbanes to get up and go have a look. He ignored his father's broken body. Instead, he warily walked over to the shallowly breathing form of the woman that had been his mother. She stared into space for a moment, before looking up at him. "I failed... miserably." Her breath came in ragged gasps. "I guess this has been a pretty bad day for you too though, huh?" Balbanes continued to give her a puzzled expression. "There is only one thing left for me to do... You are my son. You can become a hero." Balbanes took one step back as a blue glow came to her hand. "I will give you my power! Become a great hero Balbanes! The most powerful warrior in Ivalice!!" With that, a large, blue beam of light erupted from her hand, impacting into Balbanes, then covering him entirely. Alicia felt her heart stop beating as she expended this effort. But she was gratified that the last thing she saw before her vision faded was her son's eyes lighting up with a blue glow. He would be a hero.

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"Become a fine knight..." - Balbanes Beoulve


	11. Ramza's Anger

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 11**

**Ramza's Anger**

By Nanaki

Lesalia Castle

If Ramza had not stopped him, Boco would have tried to run up the wall. As it was, the chocobo couldn't help but jump high into the air, launching Ramza up out of his saddle. He stabbed his Oberisk into the wall, and proceeded to climb up. Vincent arrived on the scene and tossed him the grappling rope again. "Seems a bit familiar, doesn't it?" Ramza called down to him.

"Let's just hope Velius isn't waiting for us, _again_." Vincent sighed, then began to hurry up the rope. Everyone else followed him, with Ovelia and Agrias bringing up the rear. Once they got to the top, Ramza started to sprint down the halls. The crew followed him closely. Their progress was uniterrupted until they came to a large, four way corridor. The Black Sheep Knights were blocking their way on two sides.

"Hold it right there, rebels!" The knight in charge snarled. "Whatever your plan is, it stops here."

Ramza turned back to Rad. "I'm sorry, but I-"

"Go." Rad cut him off, drawing his own Oberisk. "We can handle these guys. You have to get to him."

"Sorry!" Ramza shouted, then turned and ran down the only unimpeded route.

Rad turned back to the Black Sheep Knights. "It's too bad for you guys that now we don't have a plan. We're just going to wing it and see what happens. Everyone, attack! Eeaaaggghhhh!!"

"Eeaaaggghhhh!!" The rest of the crew echoed his cry, and the battle was joined.

.

Ramza risked running on an outside parapet to try to find his way into the throne room in the main keep. He turned the corner from the rear of the keep to the side, and suddenly came to a stop. Perhaps thirty feet away, Delita stood, watching the battle with the leader of the Black Sheep Knights. Ramza slowed his pace, and quietly walked up to them. He came to a stop about ten feet away. Delita slowly turned, then looked up at him. They glared at each other. The Black Sheep Captain rested his hand on the pommel of his sword, unsure of what to do. "Leave us." Delita said quietly.

"But sir-!" He began to protest.

"I said leave us!" Delita shouted angrily, but his eyes never left Ramza's.

"Y-yes sir." The captain bowed, and quickly walked back into the castle.

Ramza simply continued to glare. 'He's my good friend! We're like brothers!' The words he had spoken to Algus long ago thundered in his mind. Ramza tensed, but did not move. If there was going to be a fight, he would not start it.

Delita's gaze did not waver. 'Not all nobles are like you! I trust Ramza!' His words resounded through his head as well. "Why are you here?" He finally spoke out loud.

"You said you would protect her." Ramza said in an icy tone.

"What?" Delita really didn't like where this was going.

"Ovelia. You said, and here I quote, 'You can't save her, no matter what. I can protect her from everything.'"

"I tried! No one could tell that the chocobo-"

"I'm standing right here and you still think that I don't know the truth?!" Ramza yelled. "You stabbed her! The thing I want to know is, were you planning to all along?"

Delita responded in about the worst way he possibly could at that moment. He ripped his sword out of its scabbard, and shouted, "How the hell did you find out the truth?!"

"Was this part of your plan?!" Ramza ignored Delita's rant in favor of his own.

"Tell me!!" They both shouted at each other. Delita charged forward, so angry he could barely hold his sword straight. Ramza whipped out the Masamune as he was jumping back, then brought it down on Delita's back as he went past. The king's cape was severed, and it flapped slowly to the ground.

"I told you I'd kill you if I had to!!" Delita shouted.

"Did you have to kill her?!" Ramza shouted back. They ran at each other again. The two blades clanged together first, then their momentum made their armor follow suit. Ramza could see the drops of sweat forming on Delita's brow as he struggled with his sword. He felt sweat forming on his brow too. Suddenly, he stepped to the side and released the pressure on his blade. Delita went flying forward. At least, until Ramza's gauntleted fist collided with his face, sending him sprawling back again the wall.

Delita quickly switched his sword to his left hand and whipped his arm out. The blade connected with Ramza's torso armor, rending a large tear in it. Ramza responded in kind. The Masamune was a lighter blade, but Ramza's fury lent him enough power to do as much damage as Delita's Royal Sword. They rained blows back and forth for a few seconds, before Delita realized what an advantage he had. He sidestepped, causing Ramza's next blow to hit the wall. "Holy Explosion!!" The blast of energy roared out of his sword, straight into Ramza's chest. He was hurled back, over the edge of the parapet.

Ramza faintly heard his gauntlet clank as he grabbed on. He watched in dejection as the Masamune dropped away toward the ground below. But then, his eyes widened in surprise as he noticed that every single soldier on the ground below was looking up at him. The battle had stopped. Disturbed murmurs ran through the crowd, then a chant started. "Ramza! Ramza!!" The knights pumped their fists at him.

Delita marched over to the parapet. "It would be in your best interests to tell me where you got your information." He held his sword up threateningly.

Ramza looked back down at the assembled knights. "You can do it Ramza!!" Their cheer drifted up to his ears, and then, "Eeaaaggghhhh!!"

"**Eeeaaaaaggggghhhhhhh!!**" The feral roar erupted from deep inside Ramza's throat. He whipped out his Oberisk with his free hand, jammed it into the wall underneath him, then pushed off and thrust himself back over the wall. He used the momentum to deliver a massive kick to Delita's chest. The king went sprawling to the ground, his sword clattering from his hand.

Delita quickly grabbed for his sword, but Ramza's giant spear descended just in front of his eyes. He flipped over onto his back and kicked Ramza in the stomach. Ramza staggered back, and Delita started to stand up. But before he could gain sure footing, Ramza was charging at him again. Delita tried to fall back down, but he was too late. The Oberisk head lodged in his armor, and he was smashed into the stone wall. Ramza lifted the spear up into the air, Delita still on the end, then slammed it back to the stone walkway again. Delita grunted as the wind was knocked out of him.

Glancing over the edge, Ramza saw that not every part of the wall was a clear drop to the bottom. He spotted a small balcony along the wall that was only about twelve feet down. He once again lifted up the spear, and swung it in a giant arc toward the balcony. Delita went flying off, and vanished over the edge of the parapet. Ramza followed. There was a tremendous thud as his armor landed on the hard stones, which was only eclipsed by the cheers that came from the knights below. Ramza winced as he landed, standing, next to Delita. His arms were burning from exertion, and he could feel the sweat pouring down his body, but he was enjoying this. Ramza brought the Oberisk down on Delita again. Again, the head lodged in his armor. Ramza swung it back up so Delita's head collided with the wall, then let him drop to the ground, where he slid to a sitting position. Ramza lowered the spear head against Delita's throat.

"**STOP!!**" Ramza looked up to see Ovelia standing on the wall right above him. "Don't kill him!!" She pleaded.

Ramza lowered his Oberisk, but shouted, "Why not?!"

"Because I love him!" She swung her legs over the edge of the wall, and Ramza caught her as she jumped down to their balcony.

Ramza had thought that Delita was unconscious, but his eye that wasn't swollen shut opened wide. "Ovelia? You're... ..alive?" He asked in a whisper. Ramza glared at him, since the answer was standing right in front of him. "Oh God, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Ovelia kneeled down next to him. "No, it was my fault..."

"What?!" Ramza's jaw dropped. "How in hell was it your fault?!"

"Agrias told you that I attacked him first, right?" He nodded raggedly, his muscles still ready for more action. "Well, I didn't just attack him. I had a knife. I tried to kill him, because I was so mad that he had supposedly gotten _you_ killed."

"I shouldn't have lost my temper." Delita breathed shallowly, his body still recovering from all the impacts he had sustained. "It was just that I actually thought I could trust you, and it seemed that I couldn't. But I should have recognized at the time, even then, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. All I saw was the dagger though... I suppose that's why I did what I did, even though it's no excuse."

"You're either the best liar ever, or you've severely wasted my time." Ramza said darkly. "Either way, I never want to see you again." He stabbed his Oberisk into the castle wall, and propelled himself back up to the parapet.

"Ramza, wait!" Ovelia called.

"Forget it!" He shouted back. "I really am leaving this time, and nothing is going to stop me!"

.

"Damn it! Who am I? Who?!" - Delita Hyral

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(Nanaki's note: Well, there you have it. This chapter was the whole reason this story was written in the first place. Though I doubt that's how these two characters would behave if they were actually in this situation, it was extremely cathartic to have Ramza kick Delita's ass like that. Even now, I still enjoy that fight a lot.)


	12. A Hero's Departure

**What Makes A Hero Chapter 12**

**A Hero's Departure**

By Nanaki

A bar in the lower class section of Lesalia

Ramza had foregone his usual milk in favor of a large tankard of ale. He heard two sets of soft footsteps behind him, and turned to look. Rafa and Alma entered the bar cautiously, until they spotted him inside. "I was starting to think you wouldn't show up." He said quietly.

"This wasn't exactly the easiest place to find." Alma scolded him a little. "I'm not sure I even want to know how you knew about it."

"Anyway, why did you ask us to come here?" Rafa asked him.

"You remember how we were all getting set to leave before? Well it seems that everyone's forgotten about that. Now that Delita and Ovelia have made up from what was apparently no more than a domestic squabble, they're all full of hope for the future."

"Ramza." Alma put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think they ever wanted to leave. They were going along with you because it looked like there were dark times ahead for the country. But Ovelia can hold Delita's temper in check, to a reasonable degree. Agrias will stay because of her. And did you think Orlandu would ever leave this country?"

"Well I still want to leave!" Ramza exclaimed. "I just had a huge fight with the man who was once my best friend, and he also happens to be the ruler of the country. I'm sick of this place. I want to get out of here." He remained silent for a moment, then looked intensely at both of them. "And I want you two to come with me."

Alma looked at the ground for a moment. When she looked up again, her expression was very severe. "Ramza, you know Zalbag died in the battle." Ramza slowly nodded, still not quite believing the news. "Someone has to take care of Balbanes."

"Let the Hokuten. They've been doing a decent job so far."

"No! I can't just abandon him! Not now that I know he's here!" She shouted.

"You're turning on me too?" He demanded.

"Ramza, no one is turning on you! We just don't want to leave things unfinished here!"

"I didn't make this mess, why should I help clean it up?!" He clenched his fist. "I'm not saying I'm leaving forever, but for right now..."

"Well I'm staying!" She shouted, then stormed outside. Ramza frowned. He had thought that Alma understood him. She always had, ever since they were kids...

"Ramza." Rafa said quietly, sitting down beside him. "I think I know how you feel. I'll go with you." Ramza turned to look at her with an odd expression. Alma had understood him, ever since they were kids... ..but he wasn't a kid anymore.

"Thank you." He said quietly. "There's still a war going on out there, you know. But this time, it can't be won with force. There's nothing more I can do here." He stood up, then held his hand out to Rafa. "Shall we get going back to Warjilis?"

"I'd love to." She took his hand, and they walked out into the night.

.

Igros, Capital of Gallione

Cyran's chocobo came barreling through the main gate of the castle. He was alone at the moment, and he had been for a while, but he was so deep into Hokuten territory that he wasn't worried. His bird slowed to a halt, and Clara came running down the hall. "You're by yourself?" She was surprised. "We were going to have a hero's welcome ready for you, but..."

"Forget that." He brushed the concern aside. "Ramza and Zalbag were the real heroes." She gave him a skewed glance. "Besides, the more I downplay this, the less resentment Dycedarg's men should have toward me."

"I didn't think you'd give them that much credit." She smiled. "But you shouldn't downplay your achievments too much. From what I hear, you were the only one besides Zalbag to battle Alicia."

"Yes, that's true enough." He slowly nodded. "But what you probably didn't hear is that she beat the hell out of me and placed a curse on me to boot."

"A curse?" She looked surprised.

"Yes, she overloaded me with fire energy. Apparently, if I don't transfer at least some to a child of mine within three years, it'll kill me." Then, his expression changed to a softer one as he looked down at her. "I know you and I have never been serious to the point of marriage, or anything, but I was hoping you might help me out with that one."

Clara turned to look him in the eye. "Oh Cyran, I'm afraid you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."

"What? No? No, that's all right. I can understand..."

"No, that's not it." She looked apprehensive. "I've already had a child by you."

"What? When? How?"

"And who, where, and why too, right? You know that baby girl that's been sharing my quarters for the past year?"

"Well I knew she was _your_ child." His eyes widened. "But... Tara is _my_ daughter? You told me that..."

"I lied." She looked down at the floor. "You were under so much stress from Delita's presence that I didn't want to burden you with something else. But now..."

"Wow..." He tilted her chin up so she was looking at him again. "You are so nice! But, are there any more children of mine out there that I don't know about?"

"Not to my knowledge." She shrugged.

"Are you lying again?"

"You'll have to ask around." She grinned at him.

Cyran grinned, but then looked at his hands and sighed. "I can't help but think that I could have done something to save Zalbag, or keep Ramza from disappearing on us. They both helped us out immensely." Then he looked up again. "I wish I could be more like them."

Clara looped her arm through his. "I don't know what makes a hero." She started walking down the hall, dragging him along. "I don't think any of us do."

.

"I turned and ran..." - Ramza Beoulve


	13. Epilogue

**What Makes A Hero **

**Epilogue**

By Nanaki

Igros University

"My goodness." Culum exclaimed as he closed the Durai report. "Ramza was actually that fed up..."

"It would appear that way. There is no definite proof that he ever returned to Ivalice after that."

"So the church history wasn't as innaccurate as it originally appeared to be. Ovelia did reign with Delita until they both died of old age?"

"It certainly does seem to be that way." Alazlam nodded.

"Okay... I have a few more questions."

"Do you ever not?" Alazlam laughed.

"There are rare occasions." Culum grinned. "First off, why is there no mention of Wiegraf after he went off with Zalbag? Or Rofel, for that matter?"

"It's possible that they found each other and took themselves out." Alazlam scratched his beard. "But I think it's more likely that Alicia had ordered Rofel not to interefere. When she was killed, Rofel waited for a more opportune moment to act. I suspect that Wiegraf simply kept a low profile as well."

"Olan didn't specifically mention what happend to "the crew."

"I assume that their battle with the Black Sheep Knights ended when they heard that Delita had been defeated. Either that or the Nanten broke through to the inside and put a stop to it."

"I'll buy that. What's probably the most important question is: What became of Balbanes?"

Alazlam shrugged. "Any church conspiracy theories you have would be just as good as what I could come up with."

"So you actually don't know any of this stuff?"

"It appears that Olan didn't consider these details particularly important. His main purpose in writing was to expose the truth of the Lion War, after all."

"Guess it's up to me to find out then." Culum grinned. He stood up, and dusted off his hat again before putting it on. "I'm glad I could become a little more enlightened on this subject sir, but I really should be getting back to the Fort Zeakden site now." He set the Durai report down on Alazlam's desk, and headed for the door.

"Stay well Mr. Ruglia." Alazlam called.

"You too sir." He shut the door.

Alazlam put the Durai report back in his safe, then leaned back in his chair. He wondered what exactly had become of Ramza and his possible descendants. They could have been almost anywhere. Hopefully, Culum Ruglia would make those discoveries. Then, Alazlam sat bolt upright in his chair, contemplating a possibility that had never occured to him before. "Ruglia?" He asked himself out loud. "Isn't that the false name Ramza was using when..." He started to reach for the safe, but then sat back in his chair. "No, it couldn't be..."

.

"May his way of life be an example for the next generation!" - Alazlam Durai

.

(Nanaki's "ten years later" note: Well, that's that. I did start work on a sequel to this story immediately after I finished it, but I haven't done any work on it in, oh, eight and a half years now. I think it's safe to assume that it's not going to be finished. Anyway, thanks for reading and putting up with all the OOC. Now please go and read my other, better stories. This is Nanaki, signing off.)


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